Light of Liberty
by LadyDae
Summary: AU. Leia was kidnapped and sold into slavery, she meets Luke Skywalker on Tatooine and they become friends. But three years after they meet, they're forced to become fugitives after Luke saves her and kills her master. Full summary inside. No incest.
1. Happy Birthday to Us

Okay people. This is a new story of mine that I'm writing when I have time or I'm frustrated with school or my novel or my other story. Speaking of that, yesterday was my last day of school. Yay! I have to go back in two weeks but at least it's a regular semester. A bit of advice, don't take summer courses. I'm never doing it again. Anywho, this is that story I was talking about in my profile. It'll be a finished story eventually, but I don't plan to update it as regular as my other stories. It's just a side project. Since my full summary wouldn't fit in the allotted characters this site gives, I'm posting it here for you.

_Ten year old Luke Skywalker didn't think girls could be so fascinating until he met Leia one day in a junk shop and became her friend. Leia doesn't remember much about her life before she was four, before she was kidnapped by pirates and sold into slavery. She doesn't even know her last name. Luke is probably the closest thing to family she has and ends up being the only thing she'll ever have, especially when he saves her from being raped by a man her master has rented her out to three years after they meet. Now both of them are fugitives, on the run on a stolen ship. They become infamous in the empire for freeing slaves and that catches the attention of second in command to the empire, Darth Vader. _

Tell me what you think after you read it. Read, Enjoy, and Review._  
_

**Chapter One**

**Happy Birthday to Us**

"Luke," his uncle said and the ten year old boy looked at him.

"Yes Uncle Owen," Luke said sighing as he walked away from the window of the shop where a model ship was.

"Stop day dreaming and go over in that shop and see if they have that part for the evaporator that we need," Owen barked.

Luke sighed. His uncle always spoiled his fun. He slowly made his way to the shop and looked around.

"I'll be with you in a minute," the dog looking humanoid alien said from where he was standing over a girl around Luke's age.

Luke looked at her and tilted his head. She was very familiar to him, though he was sure he had never looked at her until today.

"Hurry up you stupid girl," the man said and kicked her in the leg.

"I'm sorry!" she cried. "I'm trying."

The girl hurried to put up whatever she was stacking and in her rush dropped the assortment of parts she had.

"Dumb girl. Better be glad I'm putting up with you. The only reason I am is because in a few years, you'll be worth a lot more to me than you are now," he shouted.

The girl didn't say anything as the man started over to Luke. When he left, the girl pushed her long brown hair out her face. Luke was startled by the rebellion and anger in her eye. Apparently, she was being forced into submission.

"You wanted something human," the man said and Luke blinked out of his stupor.

"Yeah," Luke replied and told him the parts that he needed. The man nodded and went to the back to check his inventory. When he was sure the man was gone, he looked at the girl and smiled.

"Hi," he said to her.

The girl glared at him for a moment as his reading him to see if he had any bad intention toward her. "Hi," she finally replied, her face softening although her frown was still present.

"I'm Luke Skywalker," he said holding out his hand when he got close enough to her.

She glanced down at his hand and then back at his face, opting not to take it.

"Leia," she replied coolly.

"Leia what?"

The girl shrugged. "Just Leia. I don't my last name."

"Why not?" Luke asked curiously.

"I don't remember it and no one ever told me," Leia replied.

"What about your parents?" Luke asked confused.

"I don't have any parents," Leia snapped. "And I haven't been anywhere long enough for them to care to give me a last name."

Suddenly it dawned on Luke what she was. He had heard about it, but he had never talked to anyone like her. She was a slave. He frowned. She sure didn't act like one though. She had a prideful way about her, like she was better than she actually was, something like royalty, not to mention she had a bad temper

"Girl," the man behind her snapped. "Stop bothering the customer."

"It's alright," Luke said quickly. "She wasn't bothering me."

The man ignored him. "Stupid girl," he snapped and slapped her. "You're still not done with that."

Leia's head snapped to the side, and she slowly turned her head back to him with fire in her eyes. Luke thought she might lash out at him, but she didn't. Instead she huffed.

"Don't rise up at me bitch. What you standing there for? Get to work!" he yelled.

Leia paused and while turning on her heal spat, "Yes master."

The man shook his head. "Damn girl. You'll only be good for one thing in a few years, and that's the only reason I'm keeping you around."

Leia ignored him as she did her work and the man turned back to Luke.

"It's not in yet. Come back in a few days," he said.

Luke nodded and ran out the shop to where his uncle was waiting.

"What took you so long?" his uncle asked gruffly.

Luke stared back at the shop and said absently, "He had to check for it. It's not in yet."

His uncle said something else, but Luke didn't care. He couldn't stop thinking about that girl, and it surprised him. Girls were horrible, but this one was different. There was something about her and he was going to find out what.

Xxxxxxxxxx

In a few days, Luke had practically begged his uncle to let him go into town with him. He would be there for a few hours since the speeder needed to be fixed (Luke normally would have insisted he could fix it, but it was too good a chance to pass up to get to town). His uncle said no first. He didn't have time to look after Luke who would probably be bored in an hour. But Luke insisted on it, and finally, his uncle relented.

As soon as they were in the city and his uncles had parked the car while waiting for the mechanic, he jumped out the car and made his way back to the junk shop. Unlike the last time, Leia was there by herself staring at the counter.

"Hi," he said.

She jumped up startled and said, "Hi. What are you doing here?"

Luke noted with happiness that the cold tone that had been in her voice days before was gone. Maybe it was because her master wasn't there.

"Oh I know," Leia said throwing her braid over her shoulder. "You want that part. It's not here yet."

"Actually, I'm here to see you," Luke said quickly. It was odd. He was usually very shy.

Leia gave him a pointed look. "You don't have a crush on me or anything, do you?"

"No!" Luke exclaimed with a blush. "I mean I like you…. Well I know I don't really know you, but not like that."

Leia stared at him with a hardened expression and then it softened. "I guess I can believe you," she said with a small smile. "So what do you want?"

Luke shrugged. "I don't know. I'm going to be here for a few hours with my uncle. Our speeder needs to be fixed. I thought we could do something."

Leia looked at him like she was going to laugh at him again and then brightened.

"Okay. I'll have to ask my master when he gets back, but okay."

Luke nodded and sat in a chair near the door.

"So what do you do here all day?" he asked in effort to make conversation.

Leia shrugged. "Whatever my master happens to tell me at the time. Nothing specific. I'm just watching over the store for him right now."

Luke didn't really know what to say to that. He had so many questions he wanted to ask Leia about her life, but he didn't want to make her mad. Instead, he decided to talk about himself.

"My uncle runs a moisture farm. I'll never get what kind of satisfaction he gets out of squeezing water out of sand," Luke said shaking his head. Leia laughed. "Anyway, I just work on those with him all day and then go hang out with my friend Biggs. He has a speeder and sometimes he lets me drive it."

Leia smiled. "You probably haven't worked nearly as much as I have in my life. At least you can just stop and leave to go play with your friend when you feel like it. I have to ask my master if I can breathe."

Luke winced at the somewhat sour tone.

"I'm sorry," he said hurriedly. "I didn't mean it like that. I forgot."

Leia shrugged again. "It's okay. I've been a slave since I was four. No big deal. I'm used to it."

"You've been a slave on Tatooine that long?"

"I just got here to Tatooine. I've been on some other planets to. My last master got tired of my so-called freaky powers. I have to tendency to read people's thoughts sometimes and know when something's wrong so she blamed me when an accident happened on her farm," Leia explained. She wasn't usually this open. But there was something about this boy that made her want to talk. She could feel that he was nice, with a good heart. He wasn't mean and nasty to her because she was a slave like other people were. He didn't treat her like she was beneath him. He was actually concerned about her feelings. He had apologized to her. No one had ever done that.

"I can relate," Luke said in a dry tone. "I can do those things too sometimes. I always know when my aunt wants me before she ever calls me."

"I used to be that way with my mother," Leia replied with a distant look.

"Was she a slave?" Luke asked and Leia shook her head. He started to asked her how come she was one, when her master came in. The man spoke something to her in huttese and she rolled her eyes.

"I can't speak huttese, remember?"

The man started to slap her, but pulled his hand back at the last minute.

"Can't damage you too much," he muttered.

"Can I go now?" Leia asked looking down.

"Why?"

"You haven't given me anything to do. There is nothing to do. Can I go play with Luke?" she asked hopefully.

The man groaned. "Go on and get out of here bitch."

Leia smiled and Luke grinned as he stood up.

"Well what are you waiting for? Leave," he said.

The two young children left the shop.

"What do you want to do?" Luke asked and Leia looked around.

"I don't know," she replied. "I've never done anything with anyone before. I've never really had a friend."

Luke looked at her and felt a pang of sadness, not just from his own heart, but from Leia's as well. She seemed so sad.

"Well," Luke said determined. "I'll be your friend from now on. Come on. Let's go to the docking bays. There are always some cool ships there and something is always happening."

The two children ran through the streets and for the first time since she had been sold into slavery, Leia felt safe and secure.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Come on Leia," Luke said to her as he nudged her. "There must be something you want to do on our birthday."

Leia scowled as she looked at Luke and continued to put up the tools.

"I told you Luke. It's not my birthday. I don't want to ruin yours. Besides, there's nothing I can do. I'm stuck here all day," she insisted.

"Good thing I brought a cake for us to celebrate with," Luke said pointed to the cake his aunt had made that was sitting on the counter.

"Oh Luke," Leia said laughing. "It's not even my birthday. This is your day."

"It is your birthday," Luke insisted. "We don't know when yours is so I'm sharing my birthday with you."

It had all started when Luke was getting ready to turn eleven two years ago. Leia had been very bothered by his talk of his birthday, and it hadn't gone from his notice. That and Leia's displeasure was practically smacking him through whatever power they both seemed to share. When she finally told him why she was angry (after they had argued, she had thrown sand in his face and shoved him, and he had yelled at her), she revealed that she didn't know when her birthday was, and so she just tagged a year to her age somewhere around the harvest. So Luke declared that he would share his birthday with her. She was always reluctant to agree and said she only did so to make him stop nagging her about it. But deep down, Luke knew she was grateful. Leia was just a little too proud to admit it.

Leia laughed and went to look at the cake when she finished putting her tools away. She licked some of the icing.

"I guess we'll be having this after dinner at my place," she said. Her place wasn't really a place as much as it was a big shed off to the back of the junk shop, but it had a small kitchen, table and bed which was more than what Leia had in the last three years.

"After we do something," Luke insisted. "I know! How about we go down the pod racing track and race through some of the obstacles? I can even teach you how to drive."

"Luke," Leia said patiently.

"Oh come on."

"You're not even old enough to drive a speeder," Leia said but she was smirking.

Luke gave her a dry look. "And what authority is going to stop us on Tatooine?"

Leia sighed as she grabbed the cake and started to take it to her small home. "If I say yes, will you stop nagging me?"

Luke would have hugged her if she weren't carrying the cake, but instead he waited for her to come back out and then grabbed her hand and took her outside.

"Wait. I have to tell Meyrin," she said.

"You're done with all your work Leia so what does he have to fuss about?" Luke asked.

"Everything," Leia replied rolling her eyes and looking at the speeder. "Are you supposed to have this?"

"It's old. My uncle has a new one. He doesn't even know I fixed this one. As far as he knows, this thing doesn't even work long enough to make it that far from home and he keeps it around to occupy me when I'm bored. I've made all kinds of modifications to the engine. It's really fast when I race it."

Leia frowned. "So your uncle doesn't know you've been sneaking into to town to see me?"

Luke smirked. "The way you talk, you'd think I was trying to date you or something."

"You know that's not what I meant," Leia said as she got behind the wheel.

"What are you doing?" Luke asked.

"You're teaching me to drive aren't you? It's probably safer here that doing on that death course," Leia pointed out.

Luke sat in the passenger seat as Leia put the speeder into drive and began to go. They went to the old podracing track and took turns flying the speeder. To Luke's surprise, Leia caught on to flying the speeder quickly and was almost rivaling him in skill… almost. Then again, he couldn't be too shocked. Leia was always a bit of a tomboy despite the way she carried herself like royalty sometimes, but Luke knew that was usually in response to the way Meyrin sometimes treated her. She wanted to irk him by making him think she thought she was better than a slave and superior to him. It work. Luke couldn't begin to remember how many times Meyrin had smacked her for not acting like a slave or backing down.

"Bet I can make that turn coming up at full speed," Luke told her and Leia gasped. It was a sharp turn.

"You wouldn't have the guts to try it," Leia challenged and Luke pressed the excelerator. "Luke. You're going to get us killed."

"Relax Leia," Luke said with a grin.

"Luke," Leia said with panic rising to her tone.

"Oh come on Leia. Don't be such a girl," Luke teased as Leia shut her eyes and Luke started to go into the dangerous turn.

When Leia didn't feel any impact and was sure she was still alive, she opened her eyes and let out a sigh of relief.

"You nerf herder," she snapped slapping Luke on the arm when they left the track. "You're going to give me a heart attack."

"This is coming from the person who likes to play tricks on her master despite the fact that he'll beat you within an inch of your life if he catches you," Luke said dryly.

"Meyrin acts like a real bastard sometimes but he's a softie on the inside. He's not going to do anything to me," Leia replied. "Besides, that's different."

"Whatever," Luke said and stopped. "Hey look, there's Biggs."

Leia glance over at looks older friend and the friends he was with before turning away from them.

"I don't mind Biggs. But you know I hate his friends," she said softly.

Luke winced at the memory. People were awful to Leia when they found out she was a slave. Biggs other friends had been particularly cruel to her and asked how useful could a girl like her be to her master. Then they all whistled and made knowing jokes, despite Biggs trying to stop them. Luke saw red and raised his hand to do something, anything. He wasn't sure what, but he was going to make something happen. But Leia stopped him, said it was okay and that she was used to it… That was after she slugged one of them on the nose. Leia had a nice hook too, Luke noted.

But Luke knew it wasn't okay. Leia had been hurt by their degrading comments and even though Biggs was a nice guy, whenever he was with his friends and Luke had Leia, he avoided going around him. Actually, he liked to avoid them when he was alone. They always made jokes about Leia.

"Come on," Luke said. "Let's go and have some cake."

"After dinner. I managed to snag some money from my master and changed the books so he wouldn't know," Leia said with a smirk. "I had enough to get some things to make a bantha stew. All I have to do is warm it up."

Luke pulled up behind the junk shop where Leia's small home was and then Leia stopped.

"What?" Luke asked and noticed where Leia was looking. A man was talking to her master about something to do with business.

"Who's that?" Luke asked.

Leia shrugged. "I don't know. Meyrin has been negotiating the terms for something with him lately. I'm not sure what."

"There you are bitch. I didn't tell you to leave," Meyrin said suddenly. Luke rolled his eyes.

"She has a name you know," he said to Meyrin who glared at him.

Meyrin turned to the other man who looked confused and said, "He's just a friend of hers I let her keep around sometimes. Bitch, come here."

Leia exchanged a look with Luke who shrugged. Leia went to stand next to Meyrin, in from of the man he was making a deal with.

"Here she is. This is Leia, the slave I was telling you about. She's around thirteen or so," Meyrin said looking at Leia expectantly. "Say hello bitch."

Leia scowled and raised her chin in defiance, but complied.

"Hi," she said.

The man raised his hand for her to shake and said, "Hello Leia. I'm Neanderan."

"You must not be from around here," Leia said opting not to take his hand. "That name sounds foreign."

"Excuse her," Meyrin said rolling his eyes. "As you can see, she's a bit stubborn, but I assure you not for long."

He pushed Leia away and Leia took that as a sign she was dismissed. Luke stared in confusion.

"Who was he?" he asked a little wary.

Leia shook her head. "I don't know. Some guy he's making a deal with I guess. There's something about him I don't like though."

Luke nodded. "Me too. I just have that feeling about him, like something dangerous about him."

Leia dismissed it and Luke followed her into her small place. She began to warm up the stew and took wooden bowls and spoons to place on the table.

"It's not much," Leia admitted. "But it's enough for us. If you want more, just ask."

Leia turned off the small stove and filled the bowls with stew. Luke looked at her.

"You know I don't have to eat anything Leia. This stew could last you for days. You need it more than I do. I get a good meal every day," Luke said staring at it.

Leia smiled. Luke was always so thoughtful. "It's okay. What good is food without sharing it with your best friend?"

Luke gave her a small smile and picked up his spoon. He slowly began to eat, watching Leia carefully to make sure she ate her share. She was thin already, even though she had gained some weight lately, but Luke attributed that to puberty. He scowled at that. Nothing much was changing for him, but Leia seemed to be growing up more every day and starting to get her womanly features. She was even a little taller than him now. But Leia was still a little too thin. Meyrin gave her enough food to keep her alive, but just barely.

"Biggs is going off to the academy soon," Luke said to start a converstaion. "So that means I'll be coming to bother you more often until I can go."

Leia sighed. "That's nice," she said.

"What?" Luke asked feeling her sadness.

"Nothing. It's just when you leave I won't have anyone," Leia said softly eating her soup.

Luke laughed and reached across the table to hold Leia's hand.

"You think I'm leaving without you?" Luke asked. "I'm thinking of asking my uncle can I look around for some jobs. I'm sure someone needs an extra hand and there are some repair shops I can probably work in. I'm gonna start saving money and then when I have enough, I'll buy you from Meyrin and free you. Then I'll go to the academy, graduate and you'll come with me to explore the galaxy."

Leia laughed a little before sighing. She looked out the small open window.

"If Meyrin will be willing to let me go…" she said trailing off. "This reminds me of home, where ever it was."

Luke looked out the window where she was looking at the stars. "It is nice, isn't it?"

"I remember my parents used to stand outside with me on a balcony and they would show me the different stars and which ones were planets. I always used to ask them to point out Naboo and Tatooine. I always felt connected to those two planets, like it was part of my blood. We were headed to Naboo in fact when they they took me," Leia added in a daze almost. "We were going to some memorial they were having for a former queen. Our pilot had been in on it. Our guards tried to keep us safe, but there were too many. I remember my parents trying to get me away on another transport that attached to our ship, but I got separated. I dropped my necklace and went back to get it. I didn't understand what was happening."

Leia referred to the necklace around her neck. It wasn't expensive. In fact, it was very common, made from a japor snippet. It was attached to a black leather cord, nothing extravagant.

"I think my parents realized I had gone before they even got off the ship, but it was too late. The pirates took me, and I never saw them again."

"That's all you remember before all this?" Luke asked gently and Leia nodded.

"That and I remember everyone used to call me princess. I think it was a nickname or something," Leia said leaning her face on her chin.

Luke knew she was done talking about it after that. It was a rare occasion that Leia mentioned something about her life before she was a slave and she had never told him the whole story and it wasn't often she showed the more vulnerable side of herself to him. Leia was tough, and Luke didn't know whether that was just her or if she had to be that way because she was a slave.

"You think they looked for you?" Luke asked finally.

Leia sighed. "I know they did, but it was probably impossible. I could have been anywhere in the outer rim and there aren't many laws out here prohibiting slavery. How would they have found me?"

Luke leaned on his hand and looked out the window with her. "I'll help you find them one day. I know you probably miss them."

"Yeah, I guess. I don't remember too much about them to miss them too much," Leia replied. "But I'm kind of glad it happened."

"Why?" Luke asked wondering if the heat had gotten to Leia. Who would be glad they had been sold into slavery?

"Because if it hadn't happened, I wouldn't have met you," Leia said trying not to laugh at Luke's previous concern and then said to comfort him, "Of course, I would have liked it if I didn't have to become a slave."

Luke smiled shakily and then looked at the cake.

"Time to sing Happy birthday to us," Luke said bringing the cake over.

"What about your family? Don't they want to do something with you?" Leia asked folding her legs unger herself.

"My aunt is making a big dinner for me tomorrow. She understands… Can't say my uncle was too happy though. He thinks I'm getting too attached to you," Luke replied shrugging.

"He's right you know?" Leia said softly and Luke put thirteen candles on the cake and lit them. "Meyrin can decide he's tired of me and sell me any day now."

Luke sat next to her and nudged her.

"That's not going to happen," Luke insisted. "Let's not think about that though."

"Yeah. You're right," Leia said smiling. "It's our birthday. Let's finish celebrating."

The two sang to each other and then blew out the candles before serving themselves slices of cake. Luke planned to leave the left over cake for Leia. She rarely got treats as it was anyway.

Leia had just put away the cake when her master came in the small place.

"Tell your friend to leave bitch," Meyrin said.

Luke huffed and rolled his eyes. "Are you dumb? Her name is Leia."

"Shut up kid and get out of here," Meyrin snapped.

"You may own Leia, as wrong as that is, but you don't own me. I don't have to-." Leia cut Luke off.

She glared at her master. "It's alright Luke. I don't want you getting in trouble. I'll see you tomorrow."

Luke started to argue. Something was wrong with this. Meyrin didn't too much like him but he had never thrown him out before unless he was interfering with Leia's work, which Luke admitted was quite often. He felt Leia's reassurance, despite the fact that she was nervous as well, and decided not to push it.

"Alright," Luke said. "I'll try to come see you tomorrow. I doubt it though. Maybe this weekend."

Leia nodded and Luke started to leave. He got in his speeder and noticed the suns had already set. His aunt and uncle were going to kill him. He could just make up the excuse that his ride was late. It was best he sped back home. It was dangerous to be out at night on Tatooine. He was sure if it weren't for Leia, he wouldn't be out at all. As much as Luke got into trouble, he didn't go looking for it. It just seemed to find him more often than not. But Leia faced far harsher realities than he did, and so it was worth it to spend some time with her. Besides, they were… connected somehow, bound by something greater that themselves. He couldn't explain it.

When Luke got to his speeder, he sped out of town and tried to ignore the nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach. He was maybe two miles outside the city when he felt it. He wasn't sure what it was exactly, but it felt like rising panic and suspicion before it was overcome with sudden terror.

_Luke! _A voice screamed in his head.

"Leia," Luke muttered and turned back around. He made it back to Meyrin's shop and Leia's hut in half the time it took him to get as far as he did (which would probably be a record) and parked outside the hut.

Another car was there and Luke recognized it as belonging to the man that had been there earlier making a business deal with Meyrin. He only stopped for half a second when he heard Leia's screams and pleads with the man to stop before he ran into the hut.

"Stop it! Leave me alone you bastard you…" Leia let out a string of other obscenities that on any normal occasion Luke would have been shocked to hear come out her mouth. She didn't exactly have the mouth of an angel since she got a lot of influence from the worst scum of the galaxy (She had to actually. Swearing was all some of Meyrin's customers understood), but it was never that bad.

The man had grabbed Leia from behind and held her to him as he tried to rip off her dress. He obviously was so wrapped up in what he was trying to do he hadn't noticed Luke and neither had Leia. It took Luke only a second to comprehend what he saw happening before he blindly leapt on top of the man and pounded him hard on the back with the intent of breaking his spine.

"What the fuck," the man said and let go of Leia. He backed up and swung Luke off his back onto the ground.

Leia crawled into the corner trying to control her sobs as the man hit Luke in the face.

"Luke," she cried as Luke tried to avoid the man who was twice a big as they were. Leia put her pain and terror aside as she looked around. She had to help him somehow.

The man had a blaster when he came in, Leia remembered, and he put it on the table with his belt. Leia crawled over to the toppled over table and grabbed the blaster. She looked at it and vaguely remembered trying to use one when the pirates kidnapped her. Not, it was before that. Someone had been teaching her what to do if she needed to use one in an emergency. It wasn't her mother but a friend of her mother. Why they were teaching a four year old how to shoot a blaster, she didn't remember. But she remembered them telling her to make sure they was no safety on it, set it to stun… no, Leia thought shaking her head. She was supposed to make sure it wasn't set to stun. Then she aimed and tried to predict where her target was going to move and…

Leia pulled the trigger five times. She missed the first time and almost hit Luke the second, but the last three shots got her attacker in his back. He turned around to perhaps lunge at her, but Leia shakiy pulled the trigger three more times getting him right in the chest.

His dead body slumped to the ground in front of Luke. Leia dropped the gun and ran to Luke who was slowly sitting up. He was sporting a swollen cheek and a busted lip, but other than that, he was okay.

She wrapped her arms around him in a hug and cried.

"You saved me Luke," she muttered.

"It's okay Leia."

"No it's not!" Leia exclaimed. "You're hurt because of me. You-. Wait. How did you know that I was-."

"Bitch."

Both teenagers winced and Leia turned around to face Meyrin just as he snatched her up by her shoulders.

"What the hell did you do? Did you and your boyfriend do that freaky mind thing and you had him hidden her so he could kill him huh? You other master warned me that you had some freaky powers but I didn't believe him. What did you do bitch? Huh?"

Leia glared at Meyrin and struggled against him.

"Let me go you no good asshole," she snapped and then said something to him huttese that Luke had no idea she knew how to say. Her huttese had gotten better in the last three years, but he had no idea she knew how to insult someone like that.

Meyrin shot something back just as vulgar and slapped her. Leia fell to the ground and Luke saw red at Meyrin reached down to grab her again. Luke had never wished death on anyone, but in that moment, he wanted Meyrin to to just die. He wanted the slave owner to die for every time he insulted Leia, every time he had slapped her, and for attempting to let someone hurt her in the worst way possible.

"Die," Luke muttered in anger and suddenly the man was choking and gasping for breath prying at invisible fingers on his throat.

Leia scamper back next to Luke as she watched Meyrin choke.

"Die," Luke screamed and suddenly the man fell limp. Luke watch in satisfaction as the grip let go and he fell to the ground.

Both he and Leia stared for a moment and then both of them realized the gravity of the situation.

"Oh stars," Luke said standing up with her. "We killed them."

"Luke, what was that?" Leia asked shakily.

Luke shrugged. "I don't know, but I do know one thing. We have to get out of here."

"How?"

"Meyrin has a ship in a docking bay right? We'll take it," Luke said. "We have to leave Tatooine."

"That's the easy part," Leia said managing a little sarcasm. She turned her back to Luke and lifted up her hair to show a little round piece of metal in her neck.

"What's that?"

"My slave transmitter. If I try to escape or go outside a certain perimeter it explodes. Personally, I think that's a little too messy. I think it sends out a shock or poison. Either way, I can't go anywhere with this on," Leia said. "Meyrin had a control. He keeps it on the second floor of the shop in his living quarters. First we deactivate it and then we use the control to take it out."

"You know exactly where it is?" Luke asked.

Leia gave him a pointed look. "It's not like Meyrin just let me go looking through his stuff? I've never even been in his living quarters."

"We need to go up there anyway," Luke said stepping of the two dead bodies. "We need the clearance card to his dock."

"Where will we go Luke?" Leia asked trying not to show her fear.

"We can't stay hear. The huts will find out and you know how they think about slaves. One rising up against her master would make them put a bounty on your head. I could get away, but I'm not about to abandon you," Luke said climbing the steps to the second floor of the shop.

Leia scowled as she looked around. "It's filty up here. You have to wonder why Meyrin never sent me to clean up up here. Could use a maid…"

"Doesn't matter too much now," Luke replied stepping over some trash. "You look in those file cabinets over there and I'll look around here."

Leia began searching drawers and and the file cabinet. Then she went into one of the rooms. One looked like a home office and it was just as messy as the rest of the house.

"Leia," Luke shouted from another room. "I think I found it."

Leia ran to where Luke was. "Where?"

"It's in this safe. It's locked," Luke muttered to open the door to the safe. "You know any possible combinations."

"No," Leia admitted looking around nervously before she pushed Luke aside. "But I know a trick."

"What?" Luke asked as he watched Leia close her eyes and put her hand over the lock. It began to spin to the right, then twice to the left and the right again. The door clicked open.

Leia opened it and cried out in triumph as she took out the control to her transmitter along with the clearance card to the docking bay.

"Leia," Luke finally said as he got over his awe. "How'd you do that?"

"You won't believe how many cages and rooms I've broken out of with that trick. One of my masters was going to leave me in a hot room to suffocate for punishment. I don't think he wanted me to die, but that's what was happening. I thought about the lock and imagined it opening I guess you can say. It was like all of a sudden I knew the very mechanics of it and could control it without the key," Leia explained. "I can't really tell you what it is. Some kind of telekinesis I guess."

"Wow," Luke muttered. Leia snapped her fingers in his face.

"Come on. Don't just stand there. Here," Leia said giving him the control. "It's simple. Line this sensor up with the transmitter and press the first button to de-activate it and then press the second button so the transmitter will release it's hold on my spine and you can just pull it out."

"How would you know how to use this?" Luke asked looking at the remote.

"They thought I was sleep when it was explained to Meyrin, but I was awake and heard everything. I just haven't had the opportunity to look for the control," Leia said pulling her hair back.

Luke did as she said and a minute later, the metal piece that looked like a little screw was out her neck and in his hand. Leia was pressing a towel on her neck to stop the bleeding, and Luke grinned.

"You do know what this means right?" he asked.

"That we can get off the planet now," Leia said.

"Well yeah, but you're not a slave anymore. You're free!"

Leia blinked. "I'm free…" she whispered and then broke into a grin. "I'm free! Wow. It's been so long since I've been able to say that. No one to tell what to do and when to do it."

Luke slapped his forehead. "Ugh. We'll think about this later. We have to leave."

They started down the steps and then Luke remembered something. "We have no money. Where did Meyrin keep his cash?"

"I got what I could find in the safe," Leia said holding up a credit chip. "I'm not sure how much is on it."

"Then that's what we have to work with," Luke declared as they got in his speeder and sped toward the docking bay.

When they got there, Luke put the card in the slot and the door opened. Luke looked on in shock as he looked at the ship.

The ship was old and beaten, but it would get them off the planet.

"Luke," Leia said as she explored the old rusty ship. "Do you know how to fly this?"

"Sure," Luke said.

Leia frowned and came to the cockpit. "Let me rephrase it. Have you ever flown a ship in space before?" she asked.

"No," Luke admitted sheepishly. "But we have no choice. Besides, I just have this feeling. I'm confident in what I'm doing."

Leia rested her arms tensely on the armrest as the ship creaked and lifted into the air. She hoped it would hold together.

"I think this ship might only do us good for one trip," Luke said as they started to leave Tatooine's atmosphere. "Where should we go?"

"Somewhere no one will think to look for us," Leia said. "Somewhere far enough from Tatooine, but far from the Empire."

Luke winced. The last thing he wanted was to get tangled with the Empire. Everyone knew that was like a death sentence. They were on a stolen ship, Luke had run away from his guardians to take Leia to a safe planet, and Leia was practically an orphan. They would probably accuse them of being young recruits for a rebellion or something…

"How about Naboo," Luke suggested. "Obviously it had some meaning to your family if they always pointed it out to you. We'll figure out what we're going to do when we get there and we can see if we can start looking for your parents. And the empire never bothers Naboo. I learned about it in school."

Leia nodded a little hesitantly. "I guess. Do you know how to lock in the coordinates?"

Luke gave Leia a dry look. "My father was a pilot, a spice navigator, but a pilot no less. Flying is in my blood."

Leia rolled her eyes. "Stop trying to be all macho and put in the coordinates Luke."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_In the next chapter,__ Obi-Wan investigates the sudden disturbance in the force. Meanwhile,__ the situation Luke and Leia have gotten themselves into sinks in. When they get to Naboo, their ship is done for and they have to figure out what they're going to do next. However, when Leia is caught stealing food they somehow end up in the company of the Queen of Naboo and the Senator of Alderaan, Bail Organa who is there in memory of one of Naboo's greatest queens, Padme Amidala._

AN: So what did you think? Tell what you think in a review and fans of my other story don't worry. I'm still working on my other story. This is just a side project. Oh yeah and I know you're wondering why Obi-Wan doesn't sense Leia earlier, but it seems that in the movies Leia has an unknowing ability to hide her force signature being that Vader didn't sense it aboard the death star. Hope you enjoyed. Review please!_  
_


	2. Naboo

Wow! I didn't know people would like this idea so much. Thanks for the reviews. I'll try posting once a week now. I can't do anything less that that. All the parts are at least seven thousand words, no shorter than six thousand and it takes time to write and proofread it. Not only that, but I'm working on my other stories. Throw in the fact that I start school again in a few weeks and you're talking about one busy schedule. Luckily for me, college classes aren't too demanding. Fairly easy. Okay enough talk, on with the chapter. Read, enjoy, and review!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**Chapter Two**

**Naboo  
**

Obi-Wan shot up in his bed at the sudden disturbance in the force. He hadn't felt a disturbance like this in nine years, since Leia had been kidnapped. He sighed. He had failed in his duty to protect his old friend's daughter, even though he knew it wasn't his fault. There was nothing he could have done to prevent it. Maybe he could have looked for her harder, but he knew that even that was a hopeless cause. The pirates could have taken her anywhere in the galaxy and Leia had the rare ability to unknowingly shield her force presence. He had searched for years but had given up. Either he'd never find her or she was dead. Besides, he had a duty to protect Luke. He couldn't leave the boy unguarded.

Obi-Wan started out of his home, using the force to cloak himself so nothing would see him and made his way to the Lars homestead. The two Tatooine suns had long ago disappeared into the horizon, and it was dangerous to be out like this. But he had to. Something was very wrong. With the help of the force, he soon found himself in front of the small home and knocked on the door.

"Luke Skywalker," he heard Beru start to shout from the other side of the door. "I'm going to-." Beru stopped as she opened the door and looked at Obi-Wan. "Oh. Obi-Wan. It's you. What brings you out here?"

"Beru, who is that? Is that-?" Owen stopped and scowled when he saw Obi-Wan. "What do you want old wizard?"

Obi-Wan reached out with the force looking for Luke while asking, "Can I speak to Luke please?"

"No," said Owen. "I told you I-."

"He's not here right now Obi-Wan," Beru muttered trying to keep the worry out of her tone.

"Where is he?" Obi-Wan asked. "There was a great disturbance in the force a while ago, and it has something to do with him."

"He's in town, Mos Espa to be exact. He's visiting with one of his friends there," Beru explained.

"Why are they in town?" Obi-Wan asked concerned.

"That's where she lives. She's a slave," Owen explained sitting down. "You want something to drink Jedi?"

Obi-Wan shook his head. "No, I'm fine. You say Luke's not back yet."

Beru smiled. "It's not uncommon for him to get sidetracked with that girl. They're celebrating their birthday today. She doesn't exactly know what day hers is so he shares his with her. Why do you want to know these things? What's wrong?" Beru asked suddenly frowning.

Obi-Wan sighed. "I'm not sure yet. But I will find out."

Obi-Wan looked at Owen. "If you don't mind, could I borrow your speeder or better yet, can you take me to where they are?"

Owen snorted. "The girl's master won't like that. He already hates Luke being around."

Obi-Wan gave him a look and Owen sighed as he led the man outside to his speeder. It took them thirty minutes to get into town and arrive at the shop. As soon as Obi-Wan was within a good distance of the shop, he felt it. Death. He jumped out the car before Owen had even stopped it and went around the back of the shop, letting the force lead him. He came upon a large shed. The door was open and the light in the shed was on. He stepped inside and automatically assumed it had been living quarters for the girl.

He then took sight of the two dead men on the ground. Obi-Wan bent down and felt for a pulse. It was no use though. The body was already starting to get cold. It had been here for at least an hour and a half. Luke's lingering presence was still in the room along with another familiar presence, yet he couldn't name why it was so familiar.

Owen came in behind him. "What happened here?"

"I'm not sure," Obi-Wan said inspecting the bodies. "This man here seems to have dies from blaster wounds and this guy…" Obi-Wan noticed the finger marks on his neck. "He was choked."

Owen looked down at the dog-like humanoid alien. "That was the girl's master. You don't think Luke did this and that girl."

"I'm afraid so Owen, but I'm sure they had good reason. I'm guessing the girl's master rented her out to this man and Luke saved her… Of course, either one of them could have done this," Obi-Wan concluded.

"Then where are they now," Owen snapped.

Obi-Wan reach out into the force and searched for Luke's presence nearby. He frowned as he reached out with his senses as far as they could go. Luke wasn't anywhere near them and neither was the girl he was friends with. They had both disappeared. Obi-Wan stood up. He had lost the last hope for the galaxy. Obi-Wan took out his comlink. He had to contact Yoda immediately.

Meanwhile, Owen had called the local authorities to report two missing children. Obi-Wan sighed as he put up his com. The least Yoda could do was answer it. Knowing the old jedi, he had thrown it somewhere and couldn't find it. When the authorities came, if you could call them authorities, they looked at the dead bodies in outrage. Apparently one of the men that were dead was a respected member of the community.

Obi-Wan discreetly took out the man's ID and paled. He was a lieutenant in the Imperial Army at a nearby outpost. He vaguely heard the men talking about a slave girl with light brown hair and streaks in it that came from the two suns. They mentioned how they knew she was always trouble and told Meyrin to get rid of her because she was too stubborn and defiant. Obi-Wan knew that by the time they reported this to the Empire, it would be a twisted story painting the girl and Luke as the criminal, when Obi-Wan was sure they were only defending themselves.

He had to find Luke and the girl fast, or they would both be in danger, or at least, in more danger than they were currently in.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Leia sighed as Luke threw up in the trash can again. They had only been in hyperspace for five minutes when Luke really realized he had taken a life. It had bothered him to the point that he was sick and his sickness was interfering with Leia's attempts to treat his wounds.

"It's going to be okay Luke," Leia said rubbing Luke's back.

"No it's not," Luke said wiping his mouth with the towel Leia had given him. "I killed your master. I'm a murderer."

"You're not a murderer Luke," Leia snapped suddenly startling Luke a little. "A murderer kills for the heck of it. They kill for no good reason, and I should know. I've met my fair share of them since I was sold into slavery. Meyrin was practically nice compared to some of the masters I had, but he still deserved what he got for what he was going to let that monster do to me!"

Leia's lip was trembling as she spoke and Luke realized he had been so focused on the fact that he had killed someone, he didn't stop to think how Leia was feeling about all this.

"I'm sorry," he said. "It's just…"

"Luke," Leia said trying to hold back her tears. "I've seen things I shouldn't have had to seen in the last nine years and I know exactly what he was going to do. I used to hear the screams and the pleas. I was just so naïve I never thought they'd come out of my mouth. Maybe it makes me cold and heartless but… I'm glad they're dead. I'm glad you killed my master."

Leia couldn't stop it anymore. The tears fell, and Luke wrapped his arms around her in effort to comfort her and himself. Leia was tough, but there was only so much a teenager could handle. Not only did they have to deal with that though, they were on the run. It would only be a matter of time before someone found those bodies. Though Luke doubted anyone would care enough to put a bounty on their heads to find them in the galaxy, it did mean they could probably never go to Tatooine again. Luke would never see his aunt and uncle again.

"Luke. What are we going to do?" Leia asked as she sat up, and confident that Luke wouldn't throw up again, began applying bacta to his cheek.

"I'm not sure yet Leia," Luke said and then added, "But something tells me that we made the right decision in heading for Naboo. I read in my school textbook that Naboo is a beautiful planet with lots of trees and, get this, water. I saw a picture and I've never seen so much water in one place. If my uncle could get as much water out of sand in a year as they have in one lake, we'd be rich on Tatooine."

Leia noted the sad tone in his voice, despite his attempts to sound excited. She looked at him and started to put a bandage on his cheek.

"You don't have to act all fearless for my sake Luke. I know you're just as scared as I am," Leia whispered.

Luke gave a nervous laugh. "You're right. I knew one day I'd be out on my own and travelling the galaxy with you, but not like this," he added. "How about this? We get to Naboo and then we'll figure out what we're going to do from there?"

Leia nodded her head and yawned. "Okay. I'm tired."

"Me too. We should both get some rest," Luke said. "You can take the bed back there. I'll stay here in the cockpit."

"Alright. If you need to get in the bed though, let me know and I'll watch the ship," Leia said before going to the back of the ship.

A few hours later, both teenagers were awake and Leia was rubbing her stomach.

"I'm starving," she said as she looked around the ship for something to eat.

"You're always starving," Luke said as he began to help her. "I don't know how you get by during the day on what you used to eat."

Leia shrugged. "It was will mostly. That and I used to sleep like a log. When I was done with work and you left, I'd go straight to bed."

"Was that your way of making up for the fact that Meyrin didn't give you enough food?" Luke asked.

"Yeah. Sleep replenished me. I'm so into the habit I doubt I'll ever eat like I supposed to," Leia said and then smiled before crying in triumph, "Aha! Rations. This will work for now."

Leia tossed one to Luke and then sat down with him as she opened it. Luke inspected his.

"These look old. Are you sure they're alright?" Luke asked.

"I don't know. But when you've been a slave, you learn to take whatever you get," Leia said biting into the ration. She frowned. "But even I can be a little picky. These things taste like dirt. They must be really old."

Leia put it down as Luke began checking the controls.

"We're dropping out of hyperspace," Luke said to her and Leia looked at him. She had a bad feeling about all of this.

"Do you know where we're going to land?" Leia asked.

"Yeah," Luke said. "Someplace we don't have to ask permission."

"That only narrows it down to… just about anywhere on the planet," Leia shot.

"You fly the ship then," Luke snapped as something on the ship violently jerked.

Luke frantically started to mess with the controls and Leia looked at him starting to panic.

"What's going on?"

"It's the ship," Luke replied.

"I thought you knew how to fly," Leia said.

"The best pilot in the galaxy would have trouble with this thing. Something's wrong with the landing gear," Luke deduced.

The ship jerk violently again and Leia fanned herself. "Is it just me or is it getting really hot in here?"

"I think the ship isn't taking re-entry well. How long did Meyrin have this thing?"

"Let's just say it was ancient before I was born," Leia replied and began to panic. "The ship's falling apart."

"That's the least of our worries," Luke said as they sped to the ground and began to get a view of Naboo landscape. "The landing gear isn't working at all."

"Can't you do something?" Leia asked as Luke tried to keep the ship from crashing nose first.

"I'm trying," Luke said trying to stay calm as he tried to keep the ship level. "Oh forget it," he finally said and grabbed Leia's hand. "Come on."

He led them to the back of the ship and opened doors on the way looking for a small space to get in, yet one that was big enough for both he and Leia. He found a small closet full of old towels, but the space at the bottom was big enough for them to fit in.

He pushed Leia in first and then got in behind her and closed the door. Not ten seconds after they were in did the feel the impact of the ship crashing to the ground. Luke and Leia screamed as the ship then began to skid and crashed into something solid, like a tree. They waited a good minute or so before they started to move. The ship had fallen in an awkward way on its side and so they both had to kick the door up and were met with the clear blue sky.

Leia climbed out first taking a towel with her and then Luke. The ship had broken in half from the top.

"Well, at least we're not stuck in the ship," Luke said grabbing the top of the ship and pulling himself up. He reached down to grab Leia who was frowning and sniffing the air.

"Do you smell that?" she asked fiddling with her necklace

Luke sniffed the air and paled.

"Gas," he said and grabbed Leia's arm before she could even reach for him. He helped her pull her up and then they slid down the side of the ship to the ground.

"Ah," Luke said grabbing his ankle.

"You okay?" Leia asked.

"My ankle…"

The smell of burning metal stopped Leia from inspecting it. She helped Luke up instead.

"We'll check it later but right now we have to go," she said and supported Luke.

Despite his ankle, Luke ran as fast as he could with Leia, as far away from the ship as possible. Leia looked up and saw a huge rock.

"We'll hide behind that," she said hurrying Luke along.

Luke and Leia got behind the rock just as the ship exploded. The rock shielded them from the debris of the ship and Leia peaked around the rock to see the remains of the ship on fire. The smoke was rising high into the sky, and Leia knew it was only a matter of time before someone came to investigate it.

She was brought back to the situation at hand when Luke groaned.

Leis sat back down and took his left ankle. She pulled down his sock and loosened his shoe. She rolled her eyes.

"Stop acting like a big baby you," Leia said as she prodded his swollen ankle. "It's just a sprain."

"It hurts like hell though," Luke muttered.

Leia took the towel she had gotten from the closet and rubbed an edge of it against a rock to start a tear. She tore it the rest of the way and began to tightly wrap up Luke's legs.

"That better?" Leia asked him and Luke nodded as he stood up testing his ankle.

"That's better," Luke said and started to limp from behind the rock.

"Where are we?" Leia asked followed him.

"I'm not sure…" Luke said and saw something in the distance. "Hey look Leia. There's a city."

Leia looked in the distance and saw it too. "How far away do you think it is?"

Luke shrugged. "Maybe about five miles or so."

"Think you can make it?" Leia asked nodding to his ankle.

Luke looked at the ship wreck. "I don't have much of a choice really. Someone is bound to see that smoke. We need to get as far away as possible from this."

"Alright," Leia said grabbed a long stick off the ground. "Here. Just in case that ankle doesn't hold out."

Luke and Leia then started the long walk to the city. The closer they got to it, the more familiar it became to Luke until he gasped.

"What luck," he said.

"Why?" Leia asked rubbing her stomach as it growled.

"That's Theed. The capital city of Naboo," Luke said. "The queen lives there."

"You think they'll have somewhere we can get some food? I'm starving," Leia admitted.

"Did you bring that credit chip?"

Leia didn't meet Luke's eyes as she muttered something under her breath.

"What?"

"I said it was on the ship somewhere. I put it down in the cockpit and didn't have a chance to go get it before we crashed," Leia said and felt Luke's frustration. "I'm sorry. I just forgot. So much has been going on and…"

"It's okay Leia," Luke said blowing out hard through his mouth. "We'll figure something out. Maybe we can find a job or something, just temporary you know? So we can get some cash."

They continued to the beautiful city and both teenagers looked on in awe. It was a stark contrast to the cities on Tatooine. The buildings were beautiful blues and greens and creams and the city sat next to water. The palace stood out above the rest of the buildings and Leia felt an odd sense of familiarity about it.

They started down the streets of Theed and looked into all the windows of the boutiques and shops.

"This city, it's so homely," Luke said. "I feel like I'm part of hundreds of years of tradition."

Leia nodded and looked into the windows of some of the cafes. Luke followed her eyes and decided not to dwell on his own hunger. Instead he took in the fact that the streets were crowded in celebration of something. He looked around to get an idea of what the fuss was about and saw a picture of a beautiful woman in white make up with an elaborate hair style and robes of a queen. Then the holo changed, and Luke thought that the woman looked even more beautiful without all the makeup. Her curly brown hair cascaded down her back and she was smiling. There was something familiar about her.

"Luke," Leia said coming to stand next to him. "What are you looking at?"

Luke turned to look at Leia when she called him and then did a double take.

"Leia look," Luke said pointing to the picture.

Leia looked at it for a moment and then shrugged. "So what?"

"That woman looks just like you. Well she's older of course, but she looks just like you," Luke said.

Leia inspected the picture for a moment and then pointed out. "Her hair is dark brown. Mine is a light brown with blonde streaks."

"That's because the suns on Tatooine bleached it. Your hair was exactly that color when I met you," Luke said. "And hair color aside, you have the same face."

Luke looked at the woman thoughtfully and then looked at Leia.

"Do you think she may have been your mother?" Luke asked.

"That's impossible," Leia said sighing.

"Why?"

Leia tossed Luke a pamphlet and Luke looked at it. The woman was on the cover and her name was written across the top._ Padmé Amidala._

"She died while she was pregnant. She never gave birth. They're passing these out. Apparently, they're celebrating her life. She died someday this week, and they celebrate her life all week," Leia replied. "We arrived just in time for the celebration."

"Who was she?" Luke asked.

"Obviously she was a queen at one time," Leia pointed out.

Luke rolled his eyes. "You can act like a real haughty brat sometimes."

"I do not," Leia said offended.

"Yes you do," Luke said grinning. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were a princess or something."

Leia scowled. "Princesses don't get to have fun. I probably wouldn't be able to race and play tricks and do all the fun stuff you boys get to do if I were a princess."

"I'm not saying you are a princess. I'm just saying you sometimes act like one," Luke said.

"And princesses also don't steal," Leia said, her eyes following a food cart that was selling Naboo fruits along with other treats and candies.

Luke looked at the cart too. Normally he would have been totally against doing something like this, but he was starting to feel the pangs of hunger too. He watched as everyone began to clear the streets.

"We better hurry then," Luke said looking for the reason and spotting it. "A parade is about to start."

"You distract him somehow," Leia said. "I'll steal the food since you can't run with that ankle."

"How am I supposed to do that?" Luke asked.

"I don't know," Leia said as they crossed the street to the cart. "If you can choke someone without touching them, you can cause some kind of distraction without it pointing back at you."

Luke sighed and Leia went to stand next to the cart innocently. He worried about her sometimes. She talked about him killing her master so casually it scared him a little. In fact she talked about a lot of things a little too casually. Slavery had to have given her some mental issues.

Luke went up to the cart, looked at the fruit and the candies like he wanted to buy something and simply waited. Something told him not to act just yet. The music, signaling the start of the parade, began and Luke saw a group of teenagers start to run their way with the intention of rushing past the cart to get a good view. With the music playing so loud and the teenagers rushing by, Luke was able to hit the cart so that the vibration made some of the fruit topple over onto the ground.

The cart owner started to shout after the teenagers thinking they had done it before bending down to pick up his merchandise.

"Here," Luke said bending down while looking at Leia out the corner of his eye. "Let me help you."

Leia took a bag hanging on the side of the cart and started to grab fruits and a few candies from her side of the cart while the man was distracted. When she thought there was enough for the time being she started to walk down the street quickly, but within a reasonable natural pace so she wouldn't stick out.

"Thanks," the man said and started to put his food back in place. Then he frowned. "I swear I had more of these candies…"

"That girl," a woman from behind him said. "She was picking some things. I didn't say anything because I thought she might pay for it."

"Where is she?" the man said.

Luke cursed as the woman searched and spotted Leia. This wasn't good.

"There she is," the woman pointed out.

"Thief!" the man somehow managed to yell over the music. "Someone get that girl!" he yelled.

"Leia run!" Luke shouted as he saw the authorities that were making sure things stayed peaceful start to chase her.

Leia was already way ahead of Luke. As soon as the man said thief, she had broken out into a run. People began to murmur in the streets and look for the source of the disturbance making it harder for her cut through the crowd. Leia wished they please keep moving and get out of her way.

Meanwhile, Luke had forgotten all about his sprained ankle and was chasing behind the authorities. He had to get to Leia before they did. It was hard to do so in the crowed sidewalk though, so he jumped in the middle of the parade, which had now stopped, and followed Leia.

Leia had never run so fast in her life. She wasn't quite sure how long she could keep up doing so. She was beginning to get a little dizzy. She really needed to find somewhere to hide so she and Luke could eat something and build up some strength.

The crowded sidewalk was really slowing her down and so Leia steered towards the street to get some room. She regretted it a moment later. Just as she started into the street, she ran smack dab into a two legged beast that was being ridden in the parade, next to a huge ad extravagant float. But Leia didn't care about how pretty the float was. She screamed as the beast lashed out at her with its two small clawed front arms and dropped the bag in the process.

All of its contents spilled out, but Leia wasn't concerned as she too had fallen and was now only concerned with getting back up and running away. She stood up and started to back up, right into the authorities.

"Gotcha," the said grabbing her arms from behind.

Leia tensed, he face paling dramatically before she began to struggle and lash out.

"No!" she yelled. "Let me go."

The office let go of one of her arms and turned her to him.

"Listen child, it's okay," he said noting something was wrong.

"Let her go," Luke shouted when he got to them and grabbed hold of Leia from the officer. When she continued to thrash about Luke grabbed hold of her shoulders and looked her in the eye.

"Leia. It's me," he whispered so no one really heard it.

Leia stopped and blinked. "Luke," she muttered and calmed down.

"That girl stole from my cart," the man from before accused.

"Is that true?" the officer asked Leia and she nodded.

"The you'll have to come with us," he said started to reach for her.

Leia's eyes flashed. "Leave me alone," she snapped.

The officer was about to grab Leia anyway when a voice said in a monotonous but firm and clear tone, "Stop."

Everyone stopped and looked toward the beautiful float where a woman with elaborately dressed up hair, regal gowns, and white face paint came down, along with four other woman wearing the same outfits and hoods over their head.

"Your highness," the officer said to her shakily and bother Luke and Leia gasped.

It was the Queen of Naboo.

"What is the problem here?" she asked.

"Your highness," the man from the cart said. "That girl was seen stealing from me and ran when the authorities went after her. Her friend was in on it," he added pointing to look with a glare.

Luke fumed and started to talk accidently cutting off the queen. "Yes we did it and we know we were wrong. But we were just hungry. Really. All this commotion over a couple of pieces of fruit and candy."

Suddenly Luke realized he had cut off the queen and blushed. "Sorry your highness. I didn't mean to cut you off."

The woman smiled and turned to the officer and the man.

"Surely we cannot blame two children for taking a few pieces of fruit because they were hungry. They appear to be orphans. They meant no harm," she said.

"But milady," the cart man said respectfully. "That fruit cost. That's profit lost that I need to feed my family."

"Then I will compensate you for your losses," the queen decided and then looked at Luke and Leia.

"I trust you won't cause another disturbance like this again," she said giving them a stern look.

Luke almost laughed. If not for the fact that she was a queen, he would have rolled his eyes at her trying to tell him what to do. He barely listened to his aunt and uncle. Leia sensed his amusement and glared at him out the corner of her eye. Luke felt something akin to warning coming off her presence and sighed. They both nodded.

The queen looked at the officer. "Then I also trust we can let this little blunder slide."

"Yes your highness," the officer said.

"Very good," the queen said pleased and turned back to Luke and Leia. "Stand up you two. What are your names?"

Luke and Leia looked at each other managing a wordless conversation in their glance.

"Kyle," Luke said.

"Kyla," Leia said.

"Last name?"

"Darklighter," they said together not missing a beat.

"We're twins," Luke added and Leia resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Twins? Really… The likely-hood of them being twins was as likely as Darth Vader being their father.

The queen regarded then for a moment before nodding her head.

"Rashidah, Ayame," she said referring to two of her handmaidens. "Escort these children back to the palace and make sure they are taken care of. Give them one of the best suites in the palace and provide them with a bath, clothing, and food."

"Yes milady," two of the handmaidens said as a luxury speeder came up next to them and the doors opened.

Luke and Leia looked at each other not believing their luck before they got in the speeder followed by the two handmaidens. This had definitely not been part of their plans, not that they had one in the first place, but they weren't complaining about it.

The two had never been in a speeder so nice. Luke bet it was worth more that the entire homestead back on Tatooine. Leia on the other hand was completely overwhelmed. The only thing she had known or remembered were small cramped living quarters, if her masters gave her any at all. She would have gladly live in a speeder like this if she had to in favor of those cramped quarters.

"One would think you'd never been in a speeder before," Rashidah said with a smile.

"Not this nice," Luke admitted as they pulled up to the palace.

If Leia was overwhelmed by the speeder, she almost had a heart attack when they started into the palace. She would sleep outside for the rest of her life if she could wake up and look at this every day. Luke was feeling about the same and then saw a water fountain and ran over to it as best he could with his ankle still hurting.

"Look," he gestured to Leia who came behind him as he put his hand in the water. "I've never seen so much water in one place in my life."

"I forgot you grew up on Tatooine. I've been to at least two other planets where there's more water. Tatooine is all desert and sand, but there are some places where the planet is up almost completely made up of water," Leia explained as Luke looked in fascination at the water.

Leia then looked towards the handmaidens that were quietly watching them. Leia grabbed Luke's arm.

"Come on you. Their watching us," she said nodding her head to the handmaidens.

"Oh yeah," Luke said standing up and following the handmaidens into the palace.

"That's it," Leia determined. "We're going to stay here as long as we can until we figure out what to do," she muttered to Luke so the handmaidens would not hear her.

"In that case," Luke said with a grin as they went down the hall, "let's take our slow sweet time.

They arrived at a large red wood door and the handmaidens pushed it open. Luke and Leia's jaws scraped the ground.

The room was painted with calm serene colors with living room furniture to match that face a large fire place. Hanging above the fire place was a large holovision and in the middle of the ceiling was an elegant chandelier.

"Stars," Luke said sitting on the couch. "This is sweet."

Leia didn't see any of that though. She ran straight past Luke to the glass door that led to the balcony. She leaned on the railing and looked down, straight into the garden and then back up to see the city of Theed. There was another glass door a little ways down the balcony and Leia assumed it went to a bedroom or something since the curtains were drawn.

She went back into the living room where she found the handmaidens showing him his bedroom. She grinned. That meant she got the one that led to the balcony.

"You both have private baths attached to your rooms," Ayame explained. "Feel free to refresh yourselves. We will bring you suitable clothing in a few minutes."

The two handmaidens left leaving Luke and Leia to themselves. It took both of them a minute to figure out how to use the fancy knobs and adjust the temperature of the water in the bath (They both decided not to even fool with the showers).

Luke was out long before Leia was though and twenty minutes later, when she still wasn't out, he was growing impatient. He knocked on her door.

"Leia, what's taking you so long?" he asked.

She finally opened the door wearing an orange, red and yellow sun dress and sandals. She looked even thinner now without the big baggy sack she used to call a dress hiding her form.

"Didn't you have anything better to do than to bother me while I got ready?" she asked annoyed.

"Nope," Luke admitted and Leia shook her head.

"That's sad Luke. You really need to get a life if your whole world revolves around me," she teased.

"I could tell you the same," Luke shot rolling up the sleeves to his orange shirt.

"Wow," Leia said in awe.

"What?" Luke asked running a hand through his hair.

"I had no idea you could look so clean," Leia said smirking.

"Oh haha," Luke said as they went to the couch.

"Did you change the bacta pad?" Leia asked referring to Luke's cheek and the boy nodded. "And your ankle?'

"The bath helped." He then tilted his head at Leia in a fashion she was sure had seen somewhere on the holovision or something and said, "What's up with your hair?"

"I washed it," Leia replied. "That's what took me so long. I didn't feel like combing it out so I just threw it in a ponytail. Does it really look that bad?"

"It's a tangled mess," Luke admitted and Leia glared at him. "But a kind of elegant tangled mess in a way."

"Whatever," Leia said rolling her eyes. "So what's our course of action?"

Luke sighed. "Well, we can't stay here forever," he began.

"I know that much Kyle," Leia teased.

"Sure Kyla," Luke shot back.

Leia then remember what he had told the queen earlier and gave him an incredulous look.

"We're twins?" she asked. "Really. You couldn't come up with something better, like half sibling or step siblings or something? We don't look anything alike."

"It was the first thing that came to my head? Besides, it's not that unbelievable. We could say you got your looks from our mother and I got mine from our father," Luke defended.

"Still," Leia said and started to say something else when there was a knock on the door.

Luke went to open it and then let the two handmaidens in.

"A meal has been prepared for you until dinner. Queen Kylantha wishes to eat with you later," Rashida said coming in with a tray of food followed by Ayame.

They sat it on the coffee table and Leia sat on her knees before it. She'd never gotten so much food at one time in her life, or as far as she could remember anyway. She started with the Naboo fruit salad and was done with it by the time Luke sat next to her to join her. Then she moved on to the lunch entrée. She had heard Luke complain about eating his vegetables many times when he came to see her, but to her, the vegetables were a hundred times better than the slop she was usually fed as a slave. She never knew food could taste so good.

Leia was just in the middle of licking some sauce off her fingers when she noticed everyone was staring at her.

"What?" she asked and next to her Luke laughed.

"It's not going to run away Leia," Luke said smiling popping a piece of fruit in his mouth.

Leia blushed and slowed down. She knew that. She had forgotten though, that she wasn't a slave and no one was going to take it away from her.

Luke could suddenly understood why Leia had scoffed it down so fast though and had to restrain himself.

"Would you like us to do your hair?" Ayame asked.

Leia shook her head. "You don't have to. You've already done enough," she said bashfully.

"Kyla," Luke said and it took Leia a moment to figure out he was talking to her. "You said yourself you were having trouble with it."

"We'll go get the combs and brushes," they said.

Leia looked at Luke. "Why did you do that?"

"Their queen ordered them to take care of us. We may as well take advantage of it while we can," Luke said before drinking his juice. He was going to get as much royal treatment as he possibly could before all this was over.

The women came back and got to work on Leia's long hair. She had always told Luke she wanted to cut it because it gave her so much trouble but he always insisted that she leave it long, teasingly saying if she cut it off, people would think she was a boy.

Luke looked at Leia strangely for a moment. She looked oddly in place with them doing her hair like that. Sure she looked a little uncomfortable and annoyed, but the handmaidens doing her hair just looked right. Maybe it was because he always imagined that Leia was a princess sometimes. He had dreams of her in another lifetime, another universe being fussed over by other woman and Leia with her arms crossed and a displeased scowl on her face. Her expression wasn't very princess like, but the scenes would shift to an elaborate ball or dinner, and she would act all diplomatic and be polite.

He shrugged the dream out his head. Leia acted a little like a princess sometimes, being that she could get a little haughty sometimes and could put up impossible to beat arguments in negotiation to get what she wanted (he should know. She used it on him sometimes), but other than that, Leia was as far from being a princess as Tatooine was from the core. She had a bad temper if you got her riled up enough, she didn't mind getting dirty, she was a tomboy, and she wasn't one to be polite when she was around people she didn't like. They knew she didn't like them as soon as she made up her mind not to like them.

"There," Rashidah said after they had twisted her braids around her head into a simple yet fancy hair style.

"Thank you," Leia said wiping her hands with a damp napkin.

For the rest of the day they sat around the room. Leia had taken a particular interest in downloading things about Naboo off the holonet and onto the datapad one of the handmaidens had given her, while Luke was more interested the holo games, especially the flight simulations.

"Time for dinner," the handmaidens said knocking on the door.

Luke and Leia stopped what they were doing, surprised that the day had gone by so quickly and followed the handmaidens to the dining room. Queen Kylantha was sitting at the head of the table with another man dressed in senatorial garbs and a girl with stark white hair next to him.

"Kyle, Kyla," the queen said. "Please join us. I hope you don't mind the company."

Leia and Luke shook their heads as sat on the other side of the queen next to each other. Luke immediately looked at the man sitting with the girl. He seemed to be staring intently at Leia, and Luke didn't like it. Instead of glaring at the man though, he looked at his daughter and felt his knees go weak.

"This is the Senator of Alderaan, Bail Organa, and his daughter Winter," Kylantha said.

"Nice to meet you," Leia said politely and then hit Luke under the table who was still staring at Winter.

Luke shook his head. "Yeah. Same here."

Leia would have rolled her eyes if she hadn't known it might be a rude gesture at the table.

"So the queen tells me you're orphans," Bail said carefully. "Where did you come from?"

Luke was about to panic, but Leia's quick response saved them from being blown by his nervousness.

"Our mother couldn't afford to take care of us. She left us at an orphanage when we were babies, but they treated the children there very cruel. They didn't even try to find parents for us. They just worked us like slaves. The local authorities found out and shut the place down putting all the children in foster homes, but they were going to separate me and my brother. So we ran away," Leia said smoothly.

Luke could only sit and try to look like he agreed with her. That was a blatant lie, and she told them without thinking, even managing to seem timid and sad.

"That's horrible," Kylantha said with a little emotion in her tone, a stark contrast to how she had been talking before.

"We arrived here on a transport a few days ago and planned to find somewhere to earn some money, but this celebration was going on. We were just so hungry," Leia said softly and if Luke had been surprised before, he was shocked and trying to keep his mouth from scraping the ground now.

"That's understood," Kylantha said. "The two of you can stay here as long as you need to. We'll even see if we can find you something to do."

"Thank you," Luke managed still in awe over Leia's quick thinking. He knew it was a lie, and she almost had him convinced.

"So how old are you?" Winter asked.

Luke even knew they had to lie on that one. "Fourteen," both he and Leia said together. If someone was looking for them, the first thing they would ask was their age.

Winter laughed. "You're short for a fourteen year old," she said to Luke and he scowled.

"Winter," Bail warned.

"Sorry," she said.

"I like her already," Leia muttered to Luke, but Luke wasn't paying attention.

Luke was looking at Bail. Why did he suddenly seem so downcast when he found out their ages, well, their fake ages anyway? He was almost looking at Leia forlornly, like she was a forgotten memory or a ghost.

"Are you alright sir?" Luke said not being able to stay quiet about it anymore. "You look a little sick."

Bail shook his head. "I'm sorry. I just lost my other daughter some years ago. You look a little like her Kyla."

"Oh," Luke said looking down, suddenly guilty he had thought the worst of the man. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright," he said

When they were done with dinner Leia, who had taken a liking to Winter, said, "Can Winter come with us to our suite?"

Luke suddenly jumped, and Leia looked at him strangely before turning back to Bail.

"She has some lessons she's been avoiding for the last few days that she has to get to.

"Oh Father come on," Winter said to him and Bail shook his head.

"Maybe this will be more motivation for you to finish your homework this time," Bail said and Winter scowled excusing herself from the table to go do it.

Leia and Luke followed her example thanking the queen for the meal. When they were out in the hall, Luke rounded on Leia.

"How did you come up with that story?"

Leia shrugged. "No big deal. It was easy."

"Leia!" Luke said in a harsh whisper. "You came up with a story so believable you almost had me convinced. Man, if we weren't in trouble I'd look for some auditions for you. Where did you learn to make up stuff and act like that?"

Leia urged Luke to keep walking down the hall. It wasn't until they were halfway to their room that she answered him.

"Luke," she said in a tone as though she were remembering a painful memory. Luke caught her wince a little. "When you're a slave and every little thing that happens, your master can blame on you, you learn to tell believable fibs real quickly."

Luke stopped and Leia kept walking. One day she was going to tell him everything that had ever happened to her when she was a slave, but right now, they had to figure out exactly what their plan of action was. He started to ask her before he felt something of amusement come off her.

"By the way," she said. "Don't think I didn't notice how you acted around Winter. I can't believe it. You're growing up Lukey. You have your first crush."

Luke blushed and then said, "You're one to talk. You think I was so blind I couldn't tell you had a crush on Biggs."

He smirked when he saw Leia's face heat up and felt her embarrassment. Just because he was a boy didn't mean he was clueless about everything. He certainly wasn't clueless about Senator Organa's feelings either. Maybe Leia did look like his daughter, but he had a feeling there was more to the story and he was going to figure out exactly what.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_In the next chapter while Luke seems more fascinated with palace life and two droids that belong to Bail Organa, Leia takes coming up with a plan to get them off planet when the time comes into her own hands, even if it means taking advantage of the kindness the queen has given them. When Luke finds out, he's not happy about it to say the least, but it doesn't matter when Leia uses her power to save Senator Pooja Naberrie from being assassinated. Not only has she blown their cover, but also leads the Empire straight to them. Luke forgets about not taking advantage of someone's kindness. He and Leia have to get off the planet fast._

I was always interested in how Luke and Leia would interact if they had known each other before they met in the movies. And I also had to figure out how to make Leia true to her personality, but taking into account the fact that she was a slave. I figured if she had been raised as a princess for four years, some of that would linger into her personality. I was also able to use some of the things I read about her. Also, I found it fun for them to use thinks a make up lies that were actually true. Like Luke speculating about Leia's mother, saying they were twins, the Darth Vader being their father. I have other little ironic things in the rest of the story, but I'll let you find them later. Hope you enjoyed. Review please!_  
_


	3. Escape from Naboo

Man! This is one hell of a story. The parts are more like episodes than chapters. This one alone was eight thousand words. Someone mentioned breaking up the chapter and although I could do that, I rather keep them long and update every week or two. The week gives people a chance to read the long chapter because unlike other stories with shorter chapters, longer chapters take longer to read. Anyway, make sure you read my not at the end. I have some other stuff to mention about the story. Okay, on with the chapter. Read, Enjoy, and Review!

**Chapter Three**

**Escape from Naboo  
**

Leia had become close friends with Winter over the course of twenty-four hours and found herself occupied by talking to the older girl. She did things she had never gotten to chance to do before, like painting her nails, trying on make-up (she decided it made her look like a clown), and staying up late to gossip. Well, Winter was doing the gossip. She talked about her aunts and how they were determined to make her a more proper princess and mentioned her life in the palace, particularly all the dinner parties, and her secret boyfriend,

Leia couldn't help but find herself not only jealous, but also disapproving of Winter's lavish life. Sure, Leia wouldn't mind some of the luxuries the princess had, but some of it was just over the top. She even somewhat disliked Queen Kylantha's lavish live, but her people lived well too so she could overlook it. However, while they were living wonderful lives, people all over the galaxy had not even the basic comfort of a good meal every day. Leia had just read a report on the holonet of planet in the outer rim that was being disrupted in civil war. It wouldn't have bothered her that much if the name of the planet hadn't rang a bell and she remembered she had been a slave on that planet. She would have never made it off the planet alive if it hadn't been for the older girls that had taken her under her wing.

Leia herself had just been one of them a few days ago and technically she still was. She couldn't stay on Naboo forever. Someone would look for her and Luke, and they would have to leave.

Luke meanwhile wasn't as disapproving of the lavish life style, but he did think they seemed a little selfish about it. He and his aunt and uncle had been about two steps from poverty on Tatooine. All it took was for a vaporator to break down, and they could lose what little money they made. He felt guilty that he was being taken care of and in the company of the queen while they were still on that planet, probably worried sick about him. But he wasn't going to abandon Leia. She didn't have anyone but him. At least his aunt and uncle had each other. In a sense though, he and Leia had the same background. Neither knew their parents, they had no siblings, and both had an unexplainable power that sometimes made them outcasts from the rest of their peers.

Luke sighed in restlessness as he threw down the game controller. He was bored. Either they found something to do or this boredom would motivate him to get off this planet more than someone finding them. First they needed a ship though…

Luke and Leia sat in bored silence for a while. Winter couldn't come. Her father had taken her somewhere for the celebration. Luke and Leia would have gone out the palace to explore again, but they didn't want to get lost in the city. A knock came to the door and the two handmaidens the queen had assigned to them came in the room

"Milady suggests you get out today. Perhaps you'd like to go outside and join the festival," Ayame said.

Leia sighed. "None of the fun stuff happens until tonight," she pointed out.

Luke, though, had an idea. "Can we explore the palace?"

"Sure," Rashidah said.

"Is there a hanger?" Luke asked excitedly.

"Yes," Ayame said with a smile.

Leia rolled her eyes. Boys and ships. Really…

She ended up being dragged along for the ride though since she didn't want to stay in the room bored. Although now that she thought about it, she might be just as bored in the hanger. Perhaps she would go to the gardens later. They looked interesting.

"Wow," Luke said not knowing where to start.

A mechanic looked up. "Who are they?" he asked and the two handmaidens explained the situation.

"So you're the two guests that's got the whole palace talking. Well then," he said. "You like ships?"

"Yeah," Luke said looking at the ship the mechanic was working on. "I want to be a pilot someday."

"Come on then. I'll show you around. By the way, my name's Rad."

"I'm Kyle," Luke said and then looked at a bored looking Leia. "And this is my sister, Kyla."

Luke listened with rapt attention as Rad explained some of the ships and even let him tour some. Most of them were royal ships. Luke wiped his hands over the current model of ship. He would love to fly one of these things one day.

"What's that one?" Leia suddenly asked pointing to a ship on the far end of the hanger sitting amongst some other ships.

"Oh," Rad said. "Those are ships that have been laid to rest in honor of the person that owned them."

"But what's that one specifically," Leia asked pointing to a sleek silver ship.

"Oh. That's a Naboo Star Skiff that belonged to Queen Amidala. Well she was a senator when she owned it. It was laid to rest when she died," Rad explained.

Luke noted the sleek design and the shape of the wings. They curved back. It made the ship look a little like the shape of a J.

"I bet it's fast," he pointed out.

"Yeap," Rad said and then led to a control room.

"Now from this room we can find information on every royal ship in the city. We update the schematics every so often to keep progress of everything that's been done to the ships and when," Rad explain.

Luke looked at the monitor and felt like a kid in a candy shop.

"Can I look at the database?"

"Normally, that's restricted, but I can let you look at one of the ship we use most often," Rad said punching in the security code.

"So that computer program has the schematic and details of every ship," Leia asked suddenly in an odd tone.

"Yeap," Rad said and Luke slowly turned to Leia. She was up to something…

"And you program every little thing that's been done to the ship. Part changes, when it's been tested, trackers…" Leia trailed off and Luke narrowed his eyes. Yeap, she was definitely up to something.

"You bet," Rad said as he started to lead them out the room.

Leia started behind them and them and then clutched her stomach.

"What's wrong?" one of the handmaidens asked.

"My stomach hurts," Leia replied. "I think I ate too much."

"More like too fast. We told you to slow down," Luke muttered. Leia had been eating a lot since she got to the palace. It was like she had just discovered food. In her excitement, not only did she eat a lot, she ate fast. The day before, she had gulped down a large bantha steak, fruit salad, and a bowl of vegetable soup in less than fifteen minutes. That wasn't including dessert. She did end up throwing up and stayed in bed for a while the night before though. He guessed she still wasn't feeling as good as she thought she was even though she had been careful about how much and how fast she had eaten. And Luke thought he had the tendency to eat too much… He couldn't blame her though. She hadn't had a good meal in at least nine years.

"Would you like us to escort you back to your room?" Ayame asked.

Leia shook her head. "No. I think I can make it back on my own. Or better yet, could one of you go get me something to take for it. I really want to see the rest of the palace."

"Sure," Rashidah said. "I'll go get something and Ayame, you stay with Kyle. Kyla you sit right here until I come back."

Leia grimaced as she rubbed her stomach again. "Okay," she said and moaned.

"You sure you'll be okay?" Luke asked concerned.

"I'll be fine Kyle. Go finish you tour," Leia said and everyone left the room. When they were gone, she rolled her eyes and sat up.

"Really," she said to herself as she began to mess with the computer. "You'd think they know not to leave me in here alone. For people who work in the palace, they're extremely easy to fool."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Luke frowned as he tried to make his way back to his room. He had gotten tired of being escorted everywhere like he was a five year old and had long since 'accidentally' gotten separated from Rashidah and Ayame. He was now starting to regret doing that. He had no clue where he was. One moment, he had been in the hanger. Then he left the handmaidens and now he was lost. He had seen many rooms though, including a gallery that had all the history of Naboo, and its previous rulers.

He would have looked for Senator Organa to have a talk with him, but Luke was sure he wasn't in the palace at the moment. Something to do with the festival… He still didn't understand why the man didn't seem comfortable around Leia. They had dinner again the night before and he still seemed to stare at Leia like he was a ghost.

"Ugh," he said and stopped. Now what?

A series of whistles and beeps came from around the corner, and Luke looked up.

"Yes, that's true. But Master Bail didn't tell us we could leave either," a very proper sounding and prissy voice said.

Two droids came around the corner, an artoo unit and a protocol droid. The artoo droid said something else to the protocol droid and the golden unit said, "Yes, I'm very aware of the two youth are talking about. The whole palace has been whispering about them. Personally I don't understand why the humans are so fascinated with them and even if there is something to wonder about them, it's none of our business."

Luke looked at the two droids in curiosity as they came kept walking his way. He'd never seen such animated droids.

The protocol droid stopped in surprise when he saw him.

"Oh I'm sorry. Excuse us for getting in your way. It's all my friend's fault you see. He's a troublemaking little unit," it said.

Luke grinned. "No. It's alright. I'm Kyle."

The droid gasped in surprise. "So you're one of the children these humans keep talking about. One would think you had two heads with the way the servants and everyone's buzzing about you. I'm C3PO, human-cyborg relations and this is Artoo Deetoo. It's a pleasure to meet you Kyle."

Artoo began to whistle in excitement and rolled into Luke.

"Hey," Luke said and the Artoo kept whistling and beeping. Luke looked at Threepio. "What's he saying?"

Threepio stopped to listen to the droid then said, "Why, that's ridiculous."

Artoo respond even more frantically and then Threepio turned to Luke.

"Pardon this unit sir. I may suggest to Master Bail to get his circuits checked. He's talking complete rubbish."

"What's he saying?" Luke asked again.

"He seems to believe that you're lying about your name. Claims to have seen you when you were a baby…" Threepio stopped to listen again and then added. "Something about having served your father during the clone wars."

"My father?" Luke asked. "That's ridiculous. My father didn't fight in a war. I don't even know my father's name."

Artoo responded and Threepio shook his head trying to decipher it.

"Something about an Anakin Skywalker," the protocol droid said and Luke looked up.

"Who?" Luke asked.

"Anakin Skywalker," Threepio said. "Don't mind him. It's impossible. According to history, Anakin Skywalker was a jedi and they didn't have families. My friend is sadly mistaken."

Luke nodded in agreement with Threepio. There were bound to be more Skywalkers in the galaxy. Surely he wasn't the only one. Nevertheless, Luke liked the two droids. And maybe they could help him find his room.

"Well, since you all have nothing to do, could you help me find my room?" he asked.

"Our deepest apologies Kyle, but we seem to be lost ourselves. We don't habitat the Naboo royal palace often," Threepio said. However, Artoo beeped, rolled back and forth as a gesture for Luke to follow him and sped off. Luke didn't hesitate to go after him and Threepio ran behind them saying, "Wait for me!"

Artoo stopped for a moment where the hall turned left or right and then went right and stopped in front of a door, the door to Luke's room.

"Wow," Luke said and patted the droid on its dome. "Thanks."

Artoo beeped what Luke guessed was a 'you're welcome'. Luke opened the door and went in his room but before he could close the door, Artoo wheeled in followed by a fussy Threepio.

Leia was already in the suite sitting on the couch reading something on her datapad. She looked up with an excited grin on her face when they came in and started to say something before she saw the two droids. She looked at them in confusion.

"Who are they?"

"This is Artoo Deetoo and this is Threepio," Luke said. "They belong to Senator Organa."

"Oh," Leia said and then tilted her head. "Can we talk with them around?" she asked.

"Depends on what it's about?" Luke said cautiously.

"You know."

"Talk in code," Luke replied and sat on the opposite end of the couch.

Leia looked at the droids carefully and then said, "I think I found a place we can get a ship."

"Where?" Luke asked.

Leia looked around the room and said, "In a ship hanger…"

Luke didn't know how he caught on so quickly. Usually he was a little oblivious, but when it came to Leia, he always seemed to know what she was thinking.

"You're kidding. We can't!" Luke said.

"Why not?" Leia snapped.

"Because they've already done so much for us," Luke replied. "We can't repay them by taking a ship."

Leia rolled her eyes. "And just what do you think they're going to do when people come looking for us Luke. Naboo isn't that far away from Tatooine. Once they figure out we're not home, this'll be one of the first places they check."

"So you're going to strike a blow to them before they can do the same to you?" Luke shot.

"No," she said. "I'm just not going to give them the chance to turn us in."

Luke looked at Leia in disbelief and then smirked. "One problem dear sister," he began. "Do you know how guarded that place is? Do you know how many codes and securities they have on those ships? And trackers? They'll find us anyway."

"Way ahead of you _brother_," Leia replied smiling as she tossed her datapad to him. "I got this on our tour."

Luke caught the datapad and gaped in shock. There on the datapad were the schematics of all the ships in the hanger and their repair records, the same schematics that were on the computers in the control room.

"How did you get these?" Luke asked.

"How do you think?"

"No, I mean there was a password. How did you figure it out?"

Leia shrugged. "Telekinesis. Same way I opened that locked at Meyrin's place."

Luke groaned. "Leia!" he said forgetting the droids standing there. "I know we're in a desperate situation, but we can't just take advantage of other people and disregard their feelings for our own advantage. It's not right!"

Leia breathed out hard in effort to control her temper. The glasses in the room shook a little, threatening to break but she was able to bring her temper back under control. Instead she said in a clam but harsh tone, "Maybe you don't understand how desperate this situation is. Luke you grew up on a farm where your aunt and uncle sheltered you from the harsh realities of the galaxy. But I saw them with my own two eyes. No one was ever considerate of how I felt and no one cares about how you feel either Luke. At the end of the day, the ones who take care of themselves and disregard what others feel wins."

Luke lost it at her calm proclamation. "Leia you selfish inconsiderate idiot! You can't just decide not to take into consideration how other people feel because you had a hard life and people didn't care about your feelings. You didn't even come ask me what I felt about it. You just made up your mind to do it. I understand it's hard for you sometimes and I also understand that I may never completely comprehend what you've gone through, but if you decided to treat everyone else the way you've been treated, it makes you no better than them."

"How dare you compare me to them?" Leia snapped shoving Luke.

"Oh please," Luke said rolling his eyes lightly shoving her back. "Don't try that unleashing your temper and intimidation thing on me because you're mad I'm telling you the truth."

Leia glowered at him, and Luke groaned, turning on his heal and starting to his room. Then he stopped and looked at Leia.

"And for the record I do care about your feelings, but you don't seem to return the favor," Luke snapped and closed the door.

Leia winced. Luke wasn't one to get angry and as she thought about it, maybe she had been a little selfish and inconsiderate of him seeing as she had made a move without consulting him. They were in this together. He didn't have leave his whole life behind him and run away with her. He could have gone back home and left her to fend for herself like everyone else usually did. If anything, Luke being considerate of how she felt was the reason he hadn't left her alone.

Artoo, who she had just remembered was there, said something to her and Threepio translated.

"He thinks Luke has a right to be mad at you. He's not quite sure what you two are up to, but it was very harsh of you to say those things to your friend." Threepio paused and then said, "If you don't mind me asking miss, if your names and Kyle and Kyla, why did you call each other Luke and Leia in your debate?"

Leia paled. She had forgotten all about the droids.

"It was just a game Threepio," she said. "Hey, I wonder if Senator Organa is looking for you two."

As she expected, it took Threepio's mind away from her and Luke's little slip up as he began to frantically talk to Artoo about being permanently shut down as punishment. Then she turned to Luke's room door and sighed. She was never good at admitting she was wrong. In the past admitting she was wrong meant a beating… She approached the door and knocked on it.

"Luke," she said softly. The droids weren't paying attention anyway. When he didn't answer she let out a breath and leaned her head on the door.

"Luke," she said again. "I'm sorry okay. For the last nine years I've always had to do what someone else wanted me to do and maybe I got a little carried away with this freedom thing. It might take a while to break the habit, but I promise I'll try not to be so selfish. We don't have to take a ship if you think it's wrong… Wait, it is wrong, but the fact of the matter is it may be our only option."

Luke still didn't say anything, and Leia felt herself getting frustrated.

"I'd like it if you at least said something," she insisted and then gave up when he didn't reply. "Fine. Can't say I didn't try. I'm going to the festival if you need to know where I am. I'm leaving the droids with you. Winter or her father may come looking for them later."

Leia then made her way to exit their suite giving one last look at Luke's room door and then making her way out.

When he was sure she was gone, Luke opened his door. He had heard everything Leia said and though he was still mad at her, he couldn't blame her. Eventually she'd learn that considering others didn't make her a slave to them. She had been on one extreme for so long it would take her a while to find balance.

Luke then frowned… Something was coming. He and Leia would have to leave Naboo tonight. He wasn't quite sure how he knew that, but someone was looking for them. He didn't know who it was, but it wasn't going to be in their favor either way. He looked at the two droids that were arguing over something and called them over. So long as they were here, they may as well help him.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Leia made her way through the full streets of Theed taking in all the sights of the festival. There were all kinds of attractions and decorating all the streets was a type of flower whose small white blooms covered the top of one whole stem. She picked one and smelled it. It was so pretty.

"I wonder what they are…" she said.

"Their Naboo mountain lilies," a woman from behind her said. "They only grow in the mountains of Naboo and are rare. It was my sister's favorite flower."

Leia whirled around and then calmed when she saw a brown haired woman in white robes behind her.

"Oh," she said. "Hello."

"Did I frighten you?" she asked with a smile.

"A little," Leia admitted.

"My deepest apologies," the woman said. "I'm Pooja."

"Kyla," Leia said reaching her hand out to the woman. Her presence was similar to Luke's a little.

"So you're the girl who's staying in the palace with her brother," Pooja said grabbing her hand. "You two caused quite the stir."

Leia blushed. "It was an accident."

"Don't worry," Pooja said and looked at Leia in a way that made the teenager uncomfortable though she didn't feel like she was in danger. "No harm done."

"So do you come to the festival every year?" Leia asked as she began to walk with the woman.

Pooja shook her head wearing a sad smile. "Not normally, but I had to this year. I was recently appointed to the senate."

Leia stopped. The people of Naboo seemed to adore the former queen they were celebrating this week. Did Pooja not agree with the masses?

"You didn't like Padmé Amidala?" she asked curiously.

Pooja laughed. "I adored her. She was my aunt."

Leia winced. That was kind of rude of her. She really needed to word on her quick mouth. "I'm sorry. I didn't know Miss Pooja."

"It's okay and just Pooja. I'm not that much older than you."

Leia started to ask another question but then stopped and backtracked to another holo of Padmé Amidala. She was dressed in her senatorial robes again and her hair was done up in a simple braid style, but next to her was a man with blonde hair dressed in black robes with some kind of tube on his belt.

"Who's that?" Leia almost demanded. There was something about this man.

"Oh. That's Anakin Skywalker. He was before your time so you wouldn't know him. He was a jedi, but the emperor wiped them all out. He died on the same day my sister did and was a very close friend of hers," Pooja replied.

Leia couldn't tear her eyes away from the picture though. This man looked like an older version of Luke. His hair was a little darker, but Leia guessed that Luke's hair might be that shade if it weren't for the Tatooine suns he had been exposed to all his life.

"He's handsome isn't he?" Pooja teased and Leia blinked out of her stupor.

"Yeah," Leia replied looking away embarrassed. "I guess."

"Just about every girl in the galaxy had a crush on him during the clone wars," Pooja said to her.

Leia didn't know why, but she didn't have any attraction to the jedi in the picture, just curiosity and the feeling that she knew him from somewhere. Maybe it was because he looked just like Luke.

"As representative of Naboo in the senate, I'm required to say some words about her at the memorial tonight in a few moments. Would you like to come with me?"

Leia grinned. "You bet," she said and before she followed the woman grabbed another candy.

Meanwhile Luke couldn't shake the feeling that something was about to go really wrong and was packing him and Leia some things to take with them that the queen had provided. He took some of her pretty dresses and hair accessories just in case she wanted them, along with some more practical clothing, soap, and other basic necessities. He looked in all the drawers of the room and found blasters. He guessed more important people usually stayed in this room, and they needed protection sometimes. Luke grabbed them and threw them into the bags just in case.

Then he raided the half size fridge the queen had sent to them just in case they needed food and didn't feel like calling them. He only took some of the fruit and water, enough to last them to where ever they went. They could restock on another planet later.

"Here you are Master Kyle," Threepio said holding a bag out to him. "I packed everything you said. Oh and I also found this datapad lying on the couch. Will you need it?"

Luke grabbed it and saw that it was the datapad Leia had earlier. He really didn't want to steal from the queen. She had only shown them kindness, but Leia was right. They had to resort to taking advantage of it if they wanted to get out of here.

"Thanks," he said to the two droids. "I'm glad I met you two he said. I would have never gotten all this done without you."

Luke started towards the door and Artoo rolled behind him beeping something. Threepio make a sound like a gasp.

"Are you crazy? We can't go with him. We belong to Master Bail," Threepio insisted.

Artoo beeped again. "What do you mean we served Luke's family years before we ever served Master Bail?"

Artoo replied and Luke turned around as he opened the door.

"What's he talking about?"

"Some more rubbish. I apologize sir. He's usually not this insistent on something. He swears our rightful place is helping you and your sister," Threepio translated.

Luke looked at Artoo in surprise. "No. You belong here with Senator Organa. I don't own you and what do you mean you've served my family before? I don't remember my aunt and uncle having a droid like you. I'd definitely remember," he added.

Artoo said something else.

"He says that he's not talking about your aunt and uncle. He means your parents," Threepio replied. "He keeps going on about this Anakin Skywalker person."

Luke stared at Artoo for a moment. He was starting to really wonder if this droid had known his father. Luke himself didn't even know his father's name. His uncle wouldn't let aunt Beru tell him. All he knew was that the man was a navigator, so he couldn't verify what the droid said. Luke looked outside. He was wasting time. Not only did he have to get a ship ready, he had to find Leia.

"Well if you want to come with us," Luke said with a grin. "I guess that's up to you."

Luke liked the droid, so he didn't mind. Besides, it wasn't really stealing if the droid insisted on it.

"Artoo, can you get us back to the hanger?" he asked and the droid whistled and beeped in excitement before taking off down the hall.

Luke chased after it. Threepio wobbled after them as fast as he could.

"Artoo. Stop this nonsense right now. I'm not going to leave you alone until you forget about this foolishness."

Both Luke and Artoo ignored the Threepio. Luke guessed it was going to be coming with them too. They made it to the hanger door and Luke groaned. He had no idea what the security code was and though he and Leia apparently shared some of the same powers like sensing danger, reading each other's feelings and sometimes others, her telekinesis was something Luke didn't share a talent in.

"Dead end," Luke groaned but the Artoo opened up a panel on him and connected to the door. A moment later, the door slid open and Luke was suddenly grateful the droid had followed him.

"Let's go," Luke said running through the dark empty hanger to find a ship. This was the perfect time to get away. Everyone else was at the festival. He started to go to some of the smaller crafts in the back before he got this feeling and turned to face the Naboo skiff Leia had pointed out earlier. There was something very important about it, a reason he probably wasn't supposed to touch it. But he couldn't remember. All he knew was that the ship was calling him, like something was telling him he owned that ship.

Luke thought that feeling was a bit far-fetched. No one in his family had been royalty, but he decided that was the ship they were going to take anyway.

He found the schematics of the ship and manually set the ramp down. Then he climbed aboard dropping the bags in the middle of the floor and ran straight to the cockpit.

"Wow!" he gasped running his hands over the controls. He had never flown anything this nice. The control were simple enough that he knew the basics of flying it and if he needed help, not only did he have the schematics, he had Artoo. The droid had already plugged itself into the ship and activated the lights.

"Okay," Luke said turning to it. "I have to go get Leia. You two stay here. Artoo, check the ship and get it started. If you can find the tracker that's on this thing disable it. If you can't find it, have Threepio read you these schematics. We can't go anywhere unless we disable that tracker. Eventually I'll look for it and take it out all together. I'll be right back."

Luke turned to leave the hanger and then stopped. He would never get to Leia and back to the hanger in time if they walked, especially with his ankle still hurting when he put too much pressure on it. Their first day on Naboo was proof of that. He looked around the hanger and grinned when he saw the speeder.

"Artoo," he yelled. "Open up the doors," Luke yelled referring to the big hanger door on the end.

While he waited on Artoo, he looked at the speeder. No keys… a security code. He sighed and then snapped his fingers. He opened the latch at the bottom and began to mess with the wiring. If his uncle ever knew he could do this kind of thing, he would have been grounded for the next hundred years. Luke let out a triumphant cry when the speeder started and sped out of the now open doors. He looked around the palace grounds. It was scary how empty it was on this holiday. He didn't dwell on it though. Instead, he drove to where the memorial for Padmé Amidala was being held.

At the memorial, standing next to Senator Pooja, Leia almost felt giddy. She always wondered what it would be like to a senator of a planet with the power to make a difference. However, the senators she had seen didn't seem like that. They sat in their offices and debated about what to do instead of just taking action. While Padmé Amidala had been a senator, she read that the woman was at the forefront of the clone wars, even going so far as to getting in the line of fire. That's where Leia wanted to be. She wanted to make a difference for the people who had no voice, but up close and personal. Sure things could get done by negotiating and talking out problems, but sometimes action was necessary when talking failed. Padmé Amidala seemed to understand that.

She listened intently to Pooja's speech about her sister's life and what a wonderful person she was. Then, Leia's senses made her look up. There in the back of the crowd were Imperial storm troopers. She then chanced a glance to where the queen was perched in the middle of the audience amongst the crowd. An Imperial officer was talking to her about something and the queen made a quick brief glance toward Leia.

Leia kept her cool on the outside despite her nervousness and decided it was time to take her leave. Her eyes met Luke's. She had no idea where he had come from, but he probably felt the same way she did. She started to discreetly make her way around Pooja, acting like she was going to sit down.

Luke kept his eyes on Leia and the storm troopers in the back, along with the officer talking to Queen Kylantha. He had no idea why the Empire would want them, but he somehow knew they were after him and Leia. His senses spiked and he turned to look at a man pulling something out of his pocket. He couldn't see it, but he knew it was a blaster.

"Hey," he shouted at the same time Leia shouted, "Pooja watch out!"

Pooja looked at Leia and then back to the crowd just in time to see the blaster pointed at her and duck the blast. The crowd began to murmur and then scream when they saw the man with the blaster.

Luke tried to run through the panicking crowd to get to the gunman as he shot off three more shots at Pooja who was trying to get off the stage. Leia got in front of the woman and put out her hand not quite sure what she was doing, just acting on instinct. The blaster bolts stopped in midair and then exploded harmlessly.

The gun man then decided since he couldn't get Pooja, he'd turn on the queen. Luke had a clear path to him, but he'd never get to the man in time. Instead he reached out his hand. The blaster flew out the gunman's hand to his outstretched one.

The queen's bodyguards tackled the man while her handmaidens got her to safety. Luke couldn't have asked for a better distraction. He and Leia could get away without anyone noticing or caring.

"Leia!" he yelled and the two met halfway. "Come on. We have to go. The speeder's this way. Artoo and Threepio are starting the ship."

"What?" Leia said but Luke didn't answer as he pulled her to where he parked the speeder. He started to mess with the wires.

"I think I have them," a storm trooper yelled running towards their speeder. "Stop it you two!" he yelled.

"As if," Luke yelled and Leia grabbed the blaster he dropped and shot at the storm trooper.

"Hurry up already," she said frantically picking off another trooper.

"I'm trying. It must be some kind of safeguard that you can only rig this once… I had no trouble with it before," Luke replied.

Leia turned around. "Forget it," she said and moved her hand over the security pad and the speeder cranked to life. "Drive!"

Luke didn't have to be told twice as he sped off with Imperial speeders hot on their trail.

"Luke," Leia said knowing this wasn't the ideal time, but she had to get this off her. "I'm sorry about earlier. You're right. I shouldn't be inconsiderate of how other people feel just because no one was ever considerate about my feelings."

"Don't worry about it," Luke said shaking his head. "You were right too. If we want to survive we may have to do some things that normally would be wrong. I was being stupid to thing we could follow all the rules."

"Still, I should have asked you first at least," Leia said and then blinked. "Wait. The palace is the other way. Where are you going?"

"We have to lose those Imperials first," Luke explained. "If we fly straight to the palace they might try to block our way. I've got to shake them first."

Luke sped up and Leia almost screamed. "You're going to get us killed!"

"No I'm not. I have quick reflexes," Luke insisted. Leia sighed and turned around carefully in her seat again. She pointed the blaster.

"Try to shoot for the engines or better yet, the breaks," Luke yelled.

"Where are they?" Leia yelled over the wind.

"I'm not familiar with Imperial speeders. Just guess."

Leia pointed her blaster near the top front of the speeder and let off a few shots. She wasn't sure what she hit, but the car burst into flames and the driver lost control.

"Alright!" Luke yelled. "Whatever you did, keep doing it!"

Leia got two more speeders by the time Luke had probably driven them far away from the palace. Leia pulled again and the blaster clicked. She tossed it on the floor.

"Out of rounds!" she said turning back around in her seat.

"I've got an idea!" Luke said and sped up even more.

"Luke, you've lost it!" Leia yelled. Everything was one big blur to her, but even she could tell as they went down a sloping road, they were about to crash into a building.

"You'll never make that turn," she said covering her eyes.

"Trust me," Luke said determined and just when Leia thought they'd be splattered flat on a wall, Luke made the turn, amazingly, and Leia whipped around to see the other cars run right into the building an explode on impact. What Luke lacked in telekinesis, he made up for in reflexes.

Leia breathed a sighed a relief, clutched her japor snippet, and began to thank every deity she could come up with. "Thank the Skyborn, thank the angels of Iego, thank Shiraya, thank the Force…" she didn't know where that one came from, but she heard about it on one of the planets she had been a slave on. Something about jedi…

Luke sped back to the palace, confident no one else was tailing them and made it back to the hanger. He stopped the speeder and the two teenagers climbed out the car. Luke led Leia to the ship Artoo and Threepio were waiting for them on.

Leia stopped at the ramp. "Luke Skywalker. You idiot!"

"What now?" Luke sighed.

"We can't take this ship. It's been laid to rest in honor of Padmé Amidala," Leia yelled. "I didn't mean this ship."

Luke couldn't believe it. This was coming from the girl who had the idea to take a ship in the first place. Now she was being moral about which ship they stole. Honestly!

"It called to me. I couldn't help it. Besides, it's not doing her any good since she's dead. Let's go," Luke said trying to pull a stubborn Leia up the ramp.

"No way," she declared. "You didn't even ask me."

Luke rolled his eyes. "Sound familiar?" he asked pointedly

Leia opened her mouth to say something but stopped when she heard footsteps and her senses told her they needed to get a move on.

Apparently Luke felt it too because his next words were, "Fine, you can stay here if you want. But don't try to blame this on me when you're stuck in a detention cell."

That got Leia moving.

"Artoo. Close the ramp!" Luke demanded as they went up the ramp.

"Artoo," Leia muttered as the ramp began to close. When they got to the cockpit and saw the two droids she felt like punching Luke. "You took the droids too!"

"You picked the perfect time to gain a conscience Leia," Luke muttered in exasperation. "And it wasn't my fault. Artoo followed me. Threepio will tell you."

Leia shook her head. "Forget it. Let's go. Does this thing still run?"

"Are you kidding?" Luke asked. "It's like a brand new ship."

"Then go! They're about to close the doors!"

Luke sped the cruiser out the door and got the tail end of the ship out just before the doors would have crushed it. The ship lifted into the air and sped off.

Luke could tell the difference between this ship and the last one they had taken immediately. This was a ship maintained to last. It was the smoothest ride he'd ever been on.

"Alright!" Luke said.

"We're not in the clear yet sir," Threepio said. "According to the readouts here, something's coming behind us."

"I'm preparing to make the jump to hyperspace," Luke said trusting his instincts to tell him what to do.

"Hurry up," Leia said impatiently.

"Hold on. The navicomputer is checking for the best route to that planet you're trying to go to," Luke said.

"How'd you find that out?"

"It was in your datapad."

"Is it done now?" Leia asked impatiently.

"You want to end up in a black hole?" Luke snapped and Leia closed her mouth.

"We're doomed!" Threepio said frantically and Artoo said something that Leia couldn't make out. But it sounded like a snappy order to shut up.

"Got it," Luke said and smashed the button to launch them into hyperspace.

"Finally," Leia said relaxing her tense shoulders in relief. Another remarkable escape accomplished.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Bail Organa was a tired man. He had been through a lot in the last thirteen years. His wife was unable to bear children, the republic fell, his adopted daughter had been kidnapped, and then his wife died shortly after. However nothing could describe what he went through in the last couple of days. First he met the orphan twins the Queen of Naboo had taken in and the girl, Kyla, looked so much like his kidnapped Leia that it was uncanny, despite her hair which was a little lighter with blonde streaks. His hopes were dashed when she and her brother told their story and mentioned their ages.

Now he was beginning to wonder if the girl had lied and that really was his darling Leia, especially since the situation at Padmé's memorial today. Both children had showed a display of force sensitivity. He wasn't sure who the boy with her was, but after today, he knew they had obviously been on the run. They had both escaped with not only Padmé's old ship, but also his two droids. Knowing Artoo, it went with them willingly and dragged Threepio along for the ride.

He had to give it to the two though, whether it was Leia or not, they were smart. Not only had they managed to steal the schematics for the ship, but also lose all the Imperial officers that had chased them and blast three off their tail. The boy also had driving skills that no one in the galaxy could match except one person that Bail would prefer not to think about. The icing on the cake was the fact that they thought to disable the tracker on the ship they had taken. Bail had to wonder how two young teenagers managed to accomplish such feats. He picked up his communicator to get in touch with Obi-Wan. Sure the chances of having seen his little girl were slim, but the Jedi needed to know about them if they really were force sensitive.

"Bail," Obi-Wan said obviously surprised.

"Hello Obi-Wan," Bail said and then noticed the tired expression on the jedi's face. "What's wrong?"

"I'm afraid something dire. Luke's gone."

"What?" Bail exclaimed. "How?"

"Apparently he was friends with a slave girl and saved her life. We found her master and an Imperial officer dead where she lived. I believe he was about to do unspeakable things to her. I assume they went off planet knowing that the girl would receive punishment because she was a slave. I have no clue where they could have gone," Obi-Wan explained. "Enough with my problems though. What's going on my old friend?"

Bail was in shock and hardly heard Obi-Wan's question. The two children… The boy had been Luke and the girl he was with… Leia had been kidnapped by pirates. It would only make sense that she would eventually end up on Tatooine. The suns must have changed her hair but that had been her, right in his grasp. Luke and Leia had found each other, and the Empire was after them. It was his and Obi-Wan's worst nightmare.

"He was here," Bail said, slowly regaining his ability to speak. He then relayed everything that had happened in the last two days, culminating in the current day's events.

"Impossible. Luke couldn't have done those things untrained, even with another force sensitive helping to awaken his dormant force ability. The most he should be capable of are the simple reflexes you observed in Leia before…" Obi-Wan trailed off.

"It's alright," Bail said not being able to help a wide smile. "The girl, it was Leia. She must have been sold into slavery. I wasn't sure until now. I thought it was a coincidence, but then you said Luke was missing."

Obi-Wan was hardly able to contain his shock. All this time, Leia had been right under his nose and he never sensed her presence. He cursed her ability to shield her presence more now than he ever did.

"Then that explains their sudden talent with the force. Force twins are always stronger together. Being together unlocked their hidden talent," Obi-Wan deduced and then made a grim expression. "They're in more danger now than they've ever been, yet they'll probably be safer together now. They really did all that!"

Bail nodded grimly and Obi-Wan sighed. All that attention the two had brought to themselves… He felt a familiar headache coming on, one that only one person in the galaxy could give him, except this time, it was twice as bad. Only a Skywalker could walk into and cause that much havoc and trouble in a matter of minutes. One Skywalker was a walking disaster, but two, twins no less… That was a walking environmental hazard. The galaxy would never be the same again with Luke and Leia Skywalker on the loose.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_In the next chapter, Luke and Leia land on Affavan, a planet in hutt space where Leia was taken care of by women who were prostitutes owned by her master. However, the planet is being torn apart by the Empire who has decided to enslave the whole planet to work in mines and extract precious metals for a secret Imperial project, with the permission of the hutts. Having been left alone for so long, the people of Affavan start a rebellion, but when Luke is taken prisoner by the Empire to work in the mine, they both become determined to stop it._

**AN**: Two thing people. The first thing is, I may very well post the next chapter in two parts. Why? It's going on ten thousand words long... So I'm breaking it up and posting it in shifts. I'll post the first part next Monday (or even Thursday or Friday with the right motivation... cough_ reviews _cough_) _and I'll put up the next part three or four days later. It's all up to what you all want really_._

And my next announcement is that tomorrow, I'll be posting the third part in my Dark Ahsoka saga, **Transition in Darkness.** Like Empire strikes back was probably the best movie in the star wars series, this one I was really pleased with. I'll post it around... four o'clock. I'm taking into account that a lot of children just started school again and people are busy.

Alright. That's it. Hope you Enjoyed. Review Please!


	4. Affavan Part I

**AN:** So Darth Vader makes his first appearance in this chapter. Not a big appearance but he's on the chase now. It took me forever to find a planet that was already in GL's universe. I didn't want to make one up. Do you know how many worlds there are? It really is another universe. And hundreds of them didn't have real descriptions. Affavan was one of them and so it gave me some leeway to do what I wanted.

Anyway, I've got to do a lot of typing because I start school Monday. I'm taking five classes… well two of them go together so it's technically four but whatever. But I'm going to be typing thousands of words over the weekend.

This chapter is two parts. This is just the first one. Read, Enjoy, and Review.

**Chapter Four**

**Affavan Part I**

Darth Vader couldn't believe it when he was given a report about two criminal children. Children! Here he was trying to bring order to a galaxy, find the leaders of this new rebellion and forget that this was the week his wife had died pregnant and someone gave him a report on two children making trouble.

"So tell me," he asked the officer in front of him. "How difficult could it really be to capture two children who happened to kill an Imperial officer because they were being rebellious?"

"Well sir," the officer said nervously intimidated by the dark lord. His mechanical breathing didn't help. "They are very gifted children…"

"Gifted?" Darth Vader asked suddenly curious. Could the children be force sensitive?

"Yes sir," the officer said handing him a datapad with the recording of the happenings on Naboo. Darth Vader played it and watched at the two young teenagers, a boy and a girl. The girl was on the stage next to Senator Pooja and the boy was in the crowd. The two seemed to meet eyes just before they both shouted a warning as a man took out a blaster. Darth Vader sighed. If this was what they wanted to show him, he was going to throttle this officer and his superior for wasting his time. Just because the children got lucky and saw the gun didn't prove anything.

Darth Vader started to dismiss it, but then he said the girl deflect blaster bolts and the blaster fly into the boy's hand. The camera lost sight of them for a moment and then the view shifted to flying behind a speeder with the boy and the girl in it. Darth Vader almost thought the holo was tampered with. There was no way the boy could be flying that fast without losing control. Then he saw the girl turn around and cock a blaster and hit the three speeders immediately behind them, before throwing it into her seat and turning back around. Darth Vader was alarmed at how fast the boy sped up then. If it weren't for the force, it all would have been a big blur for him. He was positive the boy was going to crash before he made a sharp turn at the last possible second and the video abruptly ended.

"Were they apprehended?" he said curious about the two children. They could be a major threat to the empire with that kind of ability while untrained… Or, they could valuable allies.

"No, they got of planet."

"On a stolen ship?" Vader asked even more impressed now. They could navigate a ship too?

"Not just any ship milord. The Naboo found it to be a great disrespect. They took a ship that was laid to rest in honor of Senator Amidala," he said.

Vader felt his temper rage. Any thoughts of making these children allies left his mind. How dare those children? First they disturbed the celebration held in his wife's honor and then they steal her ship.

"Tell the commander to set the ship course for Naboo. We'll be doing a full scale investigation there. Contact the queen and tell her to gather everyone who made contact with these children so they can be questioned. We must find them. They are a threat to the security of the empire."

"Yes sir," the officer said and ran off.

Vader looked at the holovid again. As second in command and leader of the Imperial Army, it was his duty to find and eradicate all force sensitive beings. and he could use that as an excuse to go after the children for dishonoring the memory of his dead wife. He got a sense of satisfaction as he observed the power and skill of the children once more. They seemed more resourceful and a lot smarter than any of the jedi he had killed in the last thirteen years. Also, since they were teenagers, their pattern would prove hard to track if he assumed they were as impulsive and random as he was. He smirked despite the pain it caused his scarred tissue. It may well prove to be an interesting challenge.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Are you sure you're ready to do this?" Luke asked Leia holding the bottle over her head.

"Yeah," Leia said nodded her head and then stopping Luke's hand with her own. "You did read the instructions?"

"Yeah," Luke said holding a lock of her hair.

"And my hair isn't going to fall out or anything right?"

"Positive."

"And it's not permanent? It'll wash out with a dye remover?"

"Leia," Luke said rolling his eyes.

"Okay," Leia said closing her eyes. "Do it."

Luke held back a laugh as he followed the directions and began sectioning off Leia's hair to dye it. She insisted it look natural and so Luke decided that he would use the hair dye that would essentially turn her hair back to the shade it had been when he first met her. The police were looking for a girl with a lighter brown hair and blonde streaks and a boy with blonde hair. Luke had already trusted Leia to dye his hair the same shade. He had no clue why she didn't trust him to do hers.

He was suddenly grateful he had accidently grabbed some dye along with the shampoo from the palace. No doubt the whole galaxy was on the lookout for them now. So they decided to dye their hair instead.

As Luke massaged the dye through Leia's hair, he couldn't help but think how incredibly lucky they were to get the ship they did. It had cabins, could seat six passenger and was fully equipped with a medical bay along with a small kitchen. The ship also had the rare capability to gather moisture from the atmosphere it was in to provide the ship with running water, similar to the vaporators on the moisture farm. There had to be some higher entity that was working for them.

"Leia," Luke said when he was done with her hair. Now she really looked like Senator Amidala. Leia had to be related to the woman somewhere down the line.

"Hm?" she said as she dried her long locks.

"I was thinking about what we did back on Naboo and Tatooine," he said quietly.

Leia raised her eyes to meet his and sighed. "Is that taking a life thing still bothering you?"

"No," Luke defended a little too quickly and Leia raised her eyebrows. "Yes… But that's not what this is about. I'm talking about… Our powers."

Leia froze and then nodded. "Oh. That."

"I wonder what they are," Luke said. "It only seems to work when we're in trouble. I wonder if we could learn to control it."

Leia shrugged. She wasn't sure. "Maybe we could do some research on it when we get to the next planet. Hey, did you ever ask Artoo what he meant about serving your father?" she asked. That was something else she and Luke had in common. Neither knew who their parents were, but if this droid knew Luke's father, at least he could have peace with knowing who one of his parents were.

"I forgot to ask," Luke replied as he passed Leia a bottle of water. "He keeps talking about some guy named Anakin Skywalker."

Leia dropped the bottle of water but Luke caught it before it hit the ground.

"Anakin Skywalker?" she asked.

"You've heard of him?" Luke asked curiously.

Leia shook her head. "Not until a few hours ago on Naboo. I was with Pooja. There was a man in a picture with Padmé Amidala and he looked just like you Luke. His name was Anakin Skywalker. He was a jedi she said. I've heard of the jedi before. They're like legend now. They could do some of the things we can, except much better."

"What are you saying?" Luke asked a little skeptical.

"I'm saying, maybe he really was your father," Leia said.

"I doubt it," Luke replied shortly.

"Why are you being so stubborn? It makes perfect sense. You could at least consider it. Even the Artoo unit knows something. At least don't dimiss it so quickly."

"Just like you completely dismissed the fact that Padmé Amidala looks just like you?" Luke pointed out.

Leia felt her cheeks heat up. Luke could be so frustratingly stubborn sometimes. Then she felt it, his amusement. He was doing this on purpose to make her feel how he felt when she acted the same way.

"You're a horrible person Luke," she said although she was trying to keep from smiling, what she was about to tell him before forgotten.

Luke laughed despite Leia's glare. He started towards the cockpit and Leia sat in one of the passenger seats. They were silent for a moment before Luke said, "Hey Leia I was thinking, if we're going to be on the run you're going to need a full name."

"Actually, we're going to need fakes names," Leia corrected.

"Still," Luke said. "I was thinking, since you don't know you last name we could really become brother and sister."

Leia tilted her head. "What do you mean?"

"I'm saying you can take on my name. Your name will be Leia Skywalker," Luke said snapping his fingers.

Leia rolled her eyes. "First you give me your birthday and now you're giving me a last name. Someone would think we want to be married or something."

Luke's face heated up in embarrassment and Leia smirked. Luke acted like he was seven more than he acted like he was thirteen. It was an innocent joke. If he couldn't take that, he'd die of embarrassment when they got to the next planet. The slave girls she knew were just awful about that kind of stuff and they used no tact.

"You know it's not like that," Luke replied. "I'm just saying why not let that be our cover. The public is bound to think we're related, so we'll be orphan twins, Luke and Leia Skywalker."

"Why can't we just make up a last name for me?" Leia asked although somewhere inside her Leia Skywalker resonated with her.

"Because," Luke started not really knowing why himself except it just came to him, "It just sounds right."

Leia decided not to fight it. She was stubborn, but Luke was beyond stubborn when he set his mind to something. The birthday thing was proof of that…

"While we're on the subject of names," Leia added. "I was thinking about what we could name the ship."

Luke raised his eyebrow. "You have something in mind."

"Well, since we dishonored Padmé Amidala by taking her ship in the first place, I think we should name it after her."

"_The Padmé Amidala_? What kind of ship name is that? Can we drop her first name? How about just Amidala?"

"No. Amidala could be anyone. There's bound to be many more people on Naboo with that name. I want to be specifically talking about her," Leia determined.

Luke leaned back in his seat. Why Leia was so determined on naming the ship after a woman they hadn't heard of until two days ago, he didn't know. It was just as perplexing as this ship calling to him in the first place.

"There was only one Queen Amidala if that helps… or at least as far as I know," he suggested and felt Leia's approval and happiness.

"That's it. The Queen Amidala. That's what we'll name it, officially anyway," Leia replied. "We'll have to paint it of course. The first thing the Empire will look for is the color of the ship. We can paint it red."

"A red ship Leia? Really?" Luke asked her in disbelief. "How about blue or better yet, black? We're not trying to attract attention. A red Naboo star skiff just screams look over here."

"Whatever, we'll decide on it later. I'm tired. I'm taking a nap," Leia decided and Luke agreed with her. He told Artoo to watch the ship and found one of the cabins.

A few hours later, and a much more smooth landing than they had on Naboo found Luke and Leia, along with Artoo and Threepio on an outer rim territory planet in Hutt space. It was a dark polluted planet with a few forest and polluted water supply. Luke had turned off the vaporator on the ship for this reason. He doubted he and Leia would want to drink anything out of that air even with the built in filters.

"What is this planet?" Luke asked as they stepped out the ship.

"Hutt space. Affavan." Leia replied. "I was sent here once… only for a little while though. I wasn't really owned at the time. I was just kind of living with a trader in his house until someone could buy me. The older girls he owned took care of me."

"Owned?" Luke asked.

"A brothel," Leia replied. "I was only four or five. I don't think he had the patience to take care of me until I was old enough to be of use. He was a real bastard, but those girls… I'll always be grateful to them for having my back. I owe them something. I heard it's being torn up by civil war."

Luke looked at Leia in disbelief. "You mean you want to stop a civil war?"

"No!" Leia said alarmed. "Nothing like that. But I remembered that city that was in the middle of the war. I just want to make sure they're all right and just think. No one will think to look for us out here."

Luke tossed that around in his head. Leia was right. If someone was looking for them, the last place they'd expect them to go was here. They hadn't landed very far from the main city. Perhaps they could stock up some kind of supplies. The ship probably needed fuel and they needed paint. He had no idea how they were going to get their hands on that kind of money though.

As they walked the grassland to the next city Luke saw a few homes that made his homestead on Tatooine look like a palace. Since Threepio was a coward and they needed someone to watch the ship, the two left the protocol droid and then decided to leave Artoo for good measure.

"So it's a slave planet?" Luke asked to be sure.

"I guess you could say that. The Hutts got tired of it and left it for their slaves to populate although they still run it. It more of a stop for smugglers and space pirates," she replied.

"In other words," Luke said dryly. "The scum of the galaxy."

Leia nodded and when they got to the outskirts of the city, Luke suddenly had a vivid picture of the harsh life Leia had been through. Women were on the streets prostituting themselves. Violence was abound. If Luke thought that was bad, when they were actually in the city, it was worse. The streets were alive with all kind of vile activity on the planet that seemed to have a perpetual darkness. It wasn't that late, Luke was sure.

Leia pulled Luke closer to her and put a hand on her blaster. Luke was dangerously naïve sometimes being that he was raised on a farm.

"Stay close," she muttered. "Be alert. This is a dangerous place for two teenagers…"

Luke looked around. "I thought you said this place was going through civil war."

No sooner than he had said it, a loud explosion rang in the city and people began to scream. Luke's senses went off and in the distance he saw Imperial tanks barreling into the city. Another explosion sounded and he and Leia simultaneously ducked between the crevices of two buildings.

"You just had to say something!" Leia snapped.

Luke sighed and looked around the corner and then abruptly pulled back as a series of blaster shots rang and then more powerful ones in retaliation.

"What's going on?" Leia shouted over the fire.

"Civil war," Luke said pointing out the obvious. "Come on. We have to get from in the middle of this."

"How?" Leia asked covering her ears as more blaster fire rang.

Luke looked around and then looked at the roofs of the buildings. It was pretty high, but if he lifted Leia up, she may be able to get away.

Luke instead bent down and gestured for Leia to climb on his shoulders.

"What are you doing?" Leia asked as smoke began to fill the area from the fight.

"I'm getting you out of here," Luke replied. "Get on my shoulders. You can hide on the roof!"

"What about you?"

Luke sighed. "Don't worry about me. Remember how I said we could really be siblings on the ship if you wanted? Well, if that's going to be the case, you're just going to have to trust your older brother for once."

Leia started towards him and then stopped. "Wait. How do we know I'm not older?"

Luke made an exasperated sound. "Leia!"

"Alright," she said climbing up on his shoulder to reach the top of the building. She was short by a few feet.

"I can't reach it," she yelled down as she started to cough from the smoke.

"You have to," Luke replied and grabbed her ankles as he closed his eyes. He felt something. He didn't know what, but it was trying to help. Normally he would have question it, but now wasn't the time. "Leia, do you feel that?"

"Yeah," Leia said knowing what he was talking about. There was that feeling again that she had on Naboo, but stronger. "What is it?"

"Let's find out," Luke replied. "Let's just trust it."

Leia nodded skeptically by nodded. "Okay. Okay," she said again quite terrified.

Luke paused for a moment and braced himself and then tossed Leia up by her ankles. She seemed lighter all of a sudden, so it didn't seem so hard. Leia felt whatever force it was propel her upwards, higher than she even expected and she manage to land on the edge of the roof. It knocked some of the wind out of her but she was okay. She climbed over the edge and turned to look back down at Luke.

"What about you?" she yelled.

"It's okay," Luke said coughing from the debris that had risen over the city. "Stay hidden on the roof. Find your friends. I'll catch up with you."

Luke ran back out into the crossfire to find somewhere safe for him to go. Leia sat on the roof. She didn't know how long she waited, but finally, the violence was over and she sat up to look at the now ruined street. The Empire had won the battle and were now taking prisoners. Leia carefully peeked over the edge of the building and gasped. They had Luke.

"Come on kid. Get a move on," the Imperial officer said.

"Where are you taking me?" Luke demanded.

"Doesn't matter kid. Get a move on. Just know you'll be doing a great service to the empire," he said and Luke glared.

"I don't want to go," Luke said defiantly. From the roof Leia shook her head.

"Just do it Luke," she muttered. "It'll be easier that way."

"I'm warning you kid," the officer said and Luke started to disobey. He stopped as he heard Leia's voice in his head.

_Just do it Luke. It'll be easier that way._

Luke almost looked at the building where Leia was hidden, but stopped himself. He turned to the officer and scowled.

"Fine," he muttered.

The Imperial officer sneered and Luke got in the line of people that were being escorted by Imperial storm troopers. When they were all in line, they were urged to walk. Walk where? Luke wasn't sure. He just followed the line. When they to their destination, Luke peaked around the person he was behind and gasped.

It was an Imperial outpost situated outside a mining facility. The Imperials were taking them to become slaves. Luke scowled. Maybe this was where some of Leia's friends were. They pushed him along until they were at the entrance to the mine where another man, a trader maybe or someone who helped run the mine, was. The officer gave him some orders in another language and left.

"Does everyone here speak basic!" he asked in a gruff tone that reminded Luke of his uncle.

Everyone around him nodded and Luke took in his surroundings carefully as they led him inside. They went through a series of complicated tunnels and then they were led to old style detention cells, ones with her bars, but a security lock. Perfect, Luke thought to himself. He really wished he was as proficient in opening locks as Leia was right about now. The man pushed them into their cells and place tag bracelets on them as they went in, transmitters Luke bet.

When the door closed, Luke looked around the small cell looking for anyone who might be able to tell him what was happening. His eye found a Twi'lek woman in a revealing outfit sitting casually with her head against the wall. She looked bored, almost like sitting here in a cell was the norm. He sat near her, careful not to make it obvious that he wanted to talk to her, but she noticed.

"You enjoying the show honey?" she asked and it took Luke a moment to figure out what she meant. When he finally did figure it out, he blushed scarlet.

"No," he stuttered. "I mean… I wasn't looking at… you know."

The woman laughed and sat up straighter.

"You're a cute little thing. I bet you'll be quite the looker when you're all grown up. I might have to hide somewhere and come back and get you in a few years," she teased.

Luke blushed more if it was possible and turned his head. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea…

"Oh come on cutie," she said and sat closer to him. She squeezed his thigh making Luke feel a little uncomfortable. "I'm just teasing. What is it? Lonely? Need a hug? Some warmth?"

"No thanks," Luke said nervously. "I just wanted to know where I was."

"I'm going to say this easy darling, and you may not like it," the woman began. "You're a slave to the empire now."

"The Empire?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said playfully. "You know the big guy in the black suit and the ugly emperor? Those guys."

"What are they doing?" Luke asked in hushed tones.

"I don't know. They're mining something, for this huge Imperial project. It would cost a fortune to pay people to do this kind of work, so they made a deal with the Hutts who run the planet. They declared the whole planet enslaved to them."

"I thought slavery was illegal in the empire."

The Twi'lek laughed. "Yeah it is, but these guys have a job to do and the emperor won't take the excuse that they didn't have enough men for a job well. So they came up with some ruse that there was civil war and that they were going to establish order when actually, they brought the war and enslaved our planet. Not to say that it was all peachy with the hutts, but we weren't dying in these mines."

"So what's going to happen to us?"

"They'll brand us and put us to work in the mines like they did the rest of my friends. They didn't expect us to fight back. The rebellion's put them behind schedule whatever it is they're doing."

Luke set his jaw in defiance and looked around.

"Well I'm not going to be branded for anything. I'm getting out of here."

"And how are you going to do that?" the Twi'lek asked.

"A friend of mine is coming to get me," Luke replied confidently.

"I doubt it baby," she said. "You might as get used to this. But don't worry. I got your back."

Luke looked at her and decided Leia was right. He needed to get out more. "No, you don't worry. I won't be here long. Leia will come to get me."

"I don't know where you're from cutie, but there is no such thing as escaping from the empire around here."

Luke looked at her with a small smile. "Then I guess you wouldn't believe we've just recently escaped from them."

The woman looked at him curiously and then scooted closer to him, if that were possible. "Alright then cutie. If what you say is true, I'm not letting you out of my sight. When you get out, I'm going with you and then I'm going to hold you captive. You're going to be so handsome in a few years and you're so polite. Never been with anyone as nice as you."

Luke figured by the time he got out of there, he was going to be a permanent shade of red. Silently he prayed that Leia came to get him as fast as she could before looking at the Twi'lek again. Whenever she got there, it wouldn't be soon enough.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

I really enjoy writing Leia in this because I have to keep her personality intact while taking into account the things she's been through; Luke too, but his little changes don't come until later in the story which is why Leia's changes are so apparent early on in the story. Alright, next chapter Monday. Hope you enjoyed. Review please!


	5. Affavan Part II

What can I say? It's the continuation of the last chapter. Read, Enjoy, and Review!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**Chapter Five**

**Affavan Part II**

Leia stood in front of an old building far from where she had last been. She wanted to go after Luke initially. But something told her to go here first. She smiled at some of the few good memories she had of the place and then winced at some of the bad ones that went with it. However, it was probably one of her better temporary homes.

She knocked on the door and out came a teenage togruta a few years older than her with a blaster in her hands.

"What do you want?"

Leia's heart beat rapidly, but she showed no fear as she looked at the girl and cautiously eyed the blaster.

"I'm here to see someone. I used to live here," Leia explained.

"Impossible. The only ones who live here are the girls who work here and most of them have never been anywhere else," she said and started to close the door.

Leia stuck her foot in the door. "Years ago, a little girl used to stay here and you helped take care of here. She had these weird abilities remember? She saved you once, when one of your clients was going to kill you. Eventually, your master thought she was too much trouble and she was sold. You remember her?"

The torgruta looked at her and muttered something to herself before gasping.

"Leia!" she said and wrapped the girl in a bear hug.

"Watch the blaster," Leia warned as she hugged the girl.

The torgruta looked around. "Did anyone follow you?"

"No."

"Come on. Hurry up before someone sees you," she said.

Leia followed the older girl inside and closed the door behind her. The brothel was just like she remembered it. The girls sat around lazily playing cards, gossiping, talking about their clients, smoking and drinking until the night came and it was time for them to get to business.

"It's so good to see you. After Admin sold you we had no clue what happened to you. Have you been okay?"

Leia smiled. "I've been fine Sandhya," she said. "In fact, I was recently freed from bondage."

Sandhya grinned. "That's wonderful. How did you manage it?"

Leia decided her old friend didn't need to know the details and shrugged. "A friend helped."

Sandhya held back a squeal. "A boyfriend! You've met someone? Who?"

"It's not like that at all," Leia said quickly not really wanting to get into this with the prostitute. While the seventeen year old thought thirteen was an appropriate age to start courting, Leia did not. Then again, the torgruta had gotten into this business when she was eleven.

"Where is he?" Sandhya asked.

"That's the problem," Leia replied with a sigh. "He's been taken by the Imperials. I need help from whoever was fighting them out there."

Sandhya suddenly hushed Leia and then grabbed her hand and led her through past the other girls through the kitchen and to the pantry. Leia raised her eyebrows as she turned to the woman.

"What did you see?"

Leia shrugged. "Not much I guess. Just blaster fire and smoke. Luke helped me get away and they took him."

Sandhya was silent as if trying to tell her something. Leia narrowed her eyes. The woman knew something. She could feel it.

"What? Do you know where he is?"

"Yes but-."

Leia cut the woman off and glared at her. "Tell me where?"

"You'll never get inside. They've already captured most of the rebellion," Sandhya replied. "Come on. I'll get you a place to stay and-."

Sandhya slid the pantry door open, but Leia shook her head eyeing the control pad. The door slid closed again and Sandhya frowned as she pushing the button again but to no avail.

"What-?"

"Tell me what's going on?" Leia demanded and then winced at her tone. Sandhya was her friend. "What's going on here? What's about a civil war and what was that?"

Sandhya looked at the door and then Leia again. "You did that, didn't you?"

Leia gave her an impatient look and then the woman sighed.

"You must have been related to a jedi or something," Sandhya said and sat on a crate putting one up for Leia. The girl sat down and waited expectantly for explanation.

"It was the Hutts," Sandhya began. "They made a deal with the Empire for permission to mine some precious mineral and metal for some secret Imperial project. The huts will do anything for money and since this is still Hutt space despite the facts that the huts rarely come here, they had the right to make a deal that would make them rich. You know huts. Greedy slimy worms… Anyway the empire needed workers and so the huts agreed to give them the population as their workers."

"Needless to say, we weren't happy when we found up. After being left alone so long to do as we pleased, the huts had no right to use us for their ever greedy ways, hutt space or not. So a group of people came together and formed a rebellion. When the empire came, they fought back, but they didn't have the resources they do. Many of the members have been captured…"

"And where so you fit in this?" Leia asked.

"I'm an informant for the rebellion. Some of the Imperials frequent the brothels. You won't believe the things you can get them to say with a little alcohol and some good ole-."

"I get it," Leia said holding up a hand. As much as she cared about these girls, if only because they took care of her when she was younger, they could be way to blunt for her liking, especially Sandhya. She imagined Luke would be scarlet now if he were with her. The girls here loved innocence and Luke was the very embodiment of it most of the time. Leia swore he needed to get out more.

"Anyway," Sandhya said. "If they took your friend, it's not likely you'll get him back."

Leia scowled. That was one of the things she hated about Sandhya and the other girls.

"Oh, I'll get him back," Leia shot.

Sandhya rolled her eyes. "You still haven't grown up little one. Always the idealist."

"Isn't being part of this rebellion idealistic?" Leia asked.

"No dear," Sandhya said. "It's called business. They pay me for the information I give them. But I'm a realist dear and realistically speaking, there's no way you'll be getting your friend out of there."

Leia felt her patience wearing thin all of a sudden and fought to keep her temper in check. "I will get him back. On my own if I have to," she declared.

"It's hopeless. You remember Mina?"

Leia racked her brain and she was vaguely remembered a Twi'lek that was a few years older the Sandhya. She scowled. That woman was crazy.

"What about her?"

"She got captured yesterday and you don't see me busting my ass to get in there to save her. It won't do any good if it gets me killed."

Leia stood up and towered over the woman. "You'd let your friend die!"

"It's a cold world dear. You and I both know it," Sandhya said unfazed by Leia's intimidation tactic. "You have to take care of number one first and always even if that means at the sake of others."

Leia lost it. "Why you selfish inconsiderate skank!" she yelled and then a feeling of déjà vu came over her as she remembered Luke had called her that a few days ago. Well, not the skank part, but close enough. Suddenly, it hit home what Luke had meant about her becoming the very people she had been enslaved by. Would she have ended up as cold and uncaring as Sandhya if Luke hadn't save her? Leia shuddered. She didn't even want to think about it. Instead she sighed and ran a hand through her hair. She was losing time fooling around with Sandhya. Instead, she crossed her arms.

"I'm going to save Luke. Do you know where I can find the rebels?"

Sandhya laughed. "They won't be any help except to try to fight of the Imperials and failing before they get you captured. You might as well just let the damn Imps get you. Come on Leia. Stay here. You were taken care of when you were here. Remember?"

Leia was only focused on what Sanhya said first. Get captured by the Imperials… Now there was an idea.

Luke by then had now resorted to pacing about the cell he was in. He was going to get out of this place. That much he was sure of. The question was how. He stopped as the door to the detention area opened and in came another group of prisoners. For some reason, he found himself very interested in this batch of prisoners and as soon as Leia walked in, he knew why.

Leia brightened when she saw him safe and sound, or as safe and sound as one could be in prison. They opened up his cell doors and somehow, he wasn't quite sure how Leia skipped the line, Leia got into it. When everyone was placed and the guards left, Leia leapt over to him and wrapped her arms around him.

"I knew I'd find you," Leia said excitedly.

"Yeah you did. The only problem is now that we're both trapped in here," he said in a sarcastic tone.

"I know that, but considering the trouble we caused on Naboo, how much longer do you think this place will be standing?" Leia asked pointedly.

Luke shrugged and then became aware that Leia was a little shaky, kind of sweaty. He raised his eyebrow and gave her a look.

"I'm fine," Leia replied feeling his concern. "Just a little tired. I had to get in the middle of a fight to get here. So now what do we do?"

Luke looked around the cell. The door wouldn't be a problem. Leia could take care of that. However, the storm troopers guarding the area might be somewhat difficult to overcome.

"Leia," someone said from behind.

Leia and Luke turned around. Luke looked at Leia when he realized it was the Twi'lek he had talked to earlier.

"Mina," Leia said and kneeled next to the woman. "How have you been?"

Mina shrugged. "Considering I'm in this place, fine. But I should be asking you that. You have a boyfriend!"

Leia groaned. " He's not my boyfriend."

"But he's a boy that's a fried right?" Leia nodded. "Then he's your boyfriend."

Leia shook her head and fought back a smile when she felt the embarrassment coming off of Luke.

"Anyway, I'm good. I saw something about a civil war on this planet and wanted to come check on you guys," Leia said sitting down and Luke sat next to Leia, happy that she separated him from the woman.

Mina rolled her eyes. "Civil war. Imperial propaganda… I wish they would have just left us alone and let us go about our happy free lives…"

"Free?" Leia asked.

"Oh yeah. Our master died years ago and no one cares to come back and get us. The slave system here isn't as organized as it is on a place like Tatooine," Mina said. "Besides, I enjoy my line of work."

Luke looked at Leia to confirm the woman's line of work and she nodded her head. Luke didn't say anything but shook his head. Leia agreed with him. She would never know how Mina was happy in that line of work either with all the risks factors involved.

"Sandhya didn't tell me that?" Leia commented.

Mina laughed. "She wouldn't have. And you saw that realist bitch? She left me in the cold you know. Didn't even care…"

"I know," Leia said dryly. "But I do. Me and Luke do. We're going to get you out of here."

"How?"

Luke grinned. While Leia had been talking to Mina, he had been coming up with a plan to get them out. They only had one shot to get this right. He could only hope he could pull that trick he had done on Naboo when he took the blaster from the gunman.

"Leia," Luke said. "Come on."

Leia stood up and followed Luke over to a spot next to the door near the side with the door controls. Leia started to swipe her hand over it, but Luke stopped her.

"Not yet," he said and eyed the storm troopers. He discretely gestured to the bracelets on their hands. "We need to get these off first."

"I didn't see a key or remote… I don't know how-?" Leia suddenly stopped. "That guy who led us in here!"

"Who?" Luke asked.

"You know, he asks us if we speak basic before he brought us in here?" Leia asked and didn't wait for him to reply. "Well, he has to come back with more prisoners, right? I bet he has the scanner to get these off. In fact, I saw him use it."

"But Leia, how do we know he's even going to-."

The door opened again and the man came through the door. Luke and Leia abruptly stopped talking as the man talked to the storm troopers and the trooper nodded. The man came to the cell door and opened it beginning to let some of the ones who were there before Luke even was to come out.

"Time to get you people to work," he said.

Luke and Leia looked at each other. They only had one chance to get this right. Leia fell on the ground and started to tremble violently while holding onto herself. Then she began to throw a fit.

"Let me out of here! I want out. I hate this place," she yelled and began to scream.

Luke decided he would always be amazed by the girl's acting skills. She was convincing him. He rushed to her side.

"Leia," he said trying to act concerned. "What wrong?"

The man, who had just been about to close the cell door, stopped. He came over to where Leia was having her fit and thrashing violently and shouted to the storm troopers.

"This one's throwing a fit. We might have to subdue her. Set your blasters to stun," he instructed and one of the storm troopers came in the room setting his blaster and pointing it at Leia. Luke felt an urging somewhere inside him telling him to act and reached out his hand. The blaster flew to his hand and before the trooper could comprehend what was happening, he shot both the trooper and the man. Luke set the blaster off of stun just in case and Leia grabbed the other man's blaster.

Being that the troopers had been told about Leia's fit, none of the other guards came to see what was going on giving Luke and Leia the time they needed to shoot the rest of the guards. Leia ran back to the trader and grabbed the scanner off him and then shot him with her blaster when he began to stir.

"Luke!" Leia said waving the scanner.

Luke ran to her and Leia wiped the scanner over his bracelet. It fell off harmlessly. She then did the same to hers.

"Come on, we have to get out of here," Luke said starting for the door.

Leia stopped though. She had been thinking about what Sandhya said and it scared her that if she kept up like that, she'd be just like her. Leia looked at the other prisoners and smiled slightly. She always wanted to make a difference in the galaxy.

"Luke, we can't leave these people here with the Empire. We have to help them," Leia decided.

"How?" Luke asked and then it came to him. They passed a control tower on their way in and he was sure it had weapons capabilities. "Forget that. But just me and you?"

"Luke, look what we did on Naboo. If we could cause all that havoc and steal a ship and two droids, we can take these Imperials," Leia said determined.

Luke frowned. "I don't Leia. A lot of that was just luck."

"Or maybe it was something else…"

Luke understood what she meant. It felt like a higher being was with them, watching over them. And maybe, if it had been with them on Naboo, it would be with them now.

"Alright," Luke said to Leia. "But first we have to get all the people out this mine. I'm not shooting it down at the cost of all these lives."

Leia smirked. "I'll take care of that. There's got to be a base of controls inside the mine. Artoo can help me find it."

"Artoo?" Luke asked. "Where'd he come from?"

"And Threepio. I went back to the ship and got them and told them to discreetly follow the Imperials after they took me. They're waiting outside," Leia said.

"With all the guards!" Luke asked.

"You can drive anything once you figure out the controls right?" Leia asked remembering what Luke had said back on Tatooine once in effort to impress her.

"You think I lied?" Luke asked offended.

"No," Leia said. "I'm saying go take control of one of those Imperial tanks. You can distract them long enough for me to find the controls in here and set everyone free."

Luke nodded and then looked back at Mina.

"Think you can get all these people's bracelets off?" he asked.

Mina jumped up from her spot and Leia tossed her the scanner before both she and Luke started to sprint down the tunnels.

"That was a good act back there," Luke said. "You really had them thinking you were throwing a fit."

"It wasn't all an act," Leia admitted. "I'm claustrophobic."

Luke would have stopped and looked at her if their situation weren't so dire. He never would have thought Leia was afraid of closed spaces. Then again, it wasn't that surprising. She said she had almost died locked up in a hot cell before. No wonder she had been sweating and shaky when they put her in the cell. He started to say something when they came to a division in the tunnels.

"The exit's that way," Luke said pointing to his right. "We might not have time to go get Artoo."

"Then I need to go this way," Leia said and took off to the left.

Luke raced to the right and out the tunnel, abruptly stopping as two imperial officers walked by the front entrance. He scanned the area and groaned. Imperials were everywhere, including and tall one with a uniform that was a little different from a regular officer. Luke guessed he had a higher rank. The man was talking to a hutt.

Luke scowled in disgust. Hutts were some of the foulest creatures in the galaxy to him.

"Okay," Luke said to himself. "Think. How do I get out here…? How do I…?"

Luke saw one of the Imperial speeders that had chased him and Leia on Naboo. He pointed his blaster at it and got ready to run to one of the Imperial tanks. He only had on chance to do this. Leveling his blaster the same way Leia had on Naboo, he shot the speeder and as it exploded ran as fast as he could to an imperial tank. He climbed in from the top and dropped into the driver's seat and looked over the controls… There were a lot, but it shouldn't be too hard to figure out. He didn't need to drive it anyway. He just needed to get rid of all the imperials and that Hutt. He looked out the visor and then looking at the targeting monitor to get a good shot. He aimed at the high ranking Imperial officer and the Hutt.

He heard someone shout to watch out, but it was too late. Luke fired the cannon. He was surprised when the tanked flipped over from the force of the explosion as well. Luke yelped as the tank flip over a few times before landing upside down. He was stuck.

"Stars, what kind of bomb was that?" Luke asked as he began to kick around.

"Artoo," Luke heard Threepio's voice from outside the tank. "Miss Leia told us we were to stay hidden unless she or Master Luke instructed us to follow."

Artoo replied with and series of beeps and whistles.

"They need our help? Why Artoo, you don't know much about human behavior then. If they had wanted help, they would have asked for it," Threepio said.

Artoo whistled slowly and made more beeps. Luke didn't need Threepio to translate that one. He understood exactly what he said.

"Me and Leia are not troublemakers," he said kicking in the tank again. "We don't always need help getting out of the trouble we caused."

Artoo said something else and Threepio replied, "What do you mean he's just like his father?"

Luke wouldn't even begin to ask Artoo what he meant. The droid had been insisting he was just like his father since it followed him.

"Artoo, do you have some kind of laser you can use on the window. I'm stuck in here," he said.

Artoo beeped something to Luke and got to work while Threepio translated, "He said it may be a while Master Luke."

Luke sighed… Perfect.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Inside the tunnels Leia was running from the troopers stationed in the building. They hadn't liked when she announced that everyone was to leave the mine. They also hadn't liked it when she destroyed the control room… They also hadn't like it when the explosion set the entire mine on fire and released dangerous gases. She tied her jacket over her mouth and ran when they found her. That had been about five minutes ago. The gases were starting to hurt her eyes and the fire was making the whole tunnel hot, not to mention the troopers that were chasing her. It was a miracle she hadn't been shot yet. She kept herself running and ran faster than she knew she could. That was it… some higher force was definitely working for her now.

She ducked into a small crevice and the troopers ran right past her. When she was sure they were gone, she looked around. She was now hopelessly lost and something was telling her she needed to get out here now. The warning was getting progressively louder. But she didn't know how. Leia stopped and closed her hands around her japor snippet. It was the only connection to her past that she had, the only distinct memory she had of her life before she was kidnapped. The faces and the places were blurry, but she remembered what was said.

"_Daddy," she asked innocently. "Why don't I look like you and mommy?"_

He revealed to her that she wasn't really theirs in flesh, but that regardless they loved her anyway. They made that very clear to her that they were still her parents. It saddened her still though, that her real mother had died. She loved her parents, but she felt sad for the woman who never knew her daughter. And so her father, whoever he had been gave her the japor snippet. It was going to be buried with her mother, but upon rethinking it, it was kept so Leia would have something left from her, if only her mother's most prized possession. Why it was, Leia wasn't sure.

She hadn't even told Luke the reason she so cherished it. Leia wondered if it had been buried with her mother like it originally was supposed to, if she would have been kidnapped at all. The reason she was taken was because she went back to get it in the first place. She didn't remember the people who took care of her before and while it would have been nice to see them again, any attachment she had to them was long gone. She had no memory of them really. Luke would scold her for feeling that way but whatever. However, the connection she had to her real mother, even though she was dead, would never be broken. She'd never forget the kind woman that looked like her, but wore a sad smile on her face as if longing for something she couldn't have.

"Please," Leia said hoping her voice would transcend the barrier between life and death. "Help me mother. I know you're watching. Please."

When Leia opened her eyes, she rolled her eyes at her antic. How silly of her? There was no way-. She saw a light appear in front of her and Leia blinked. The gas must have messed up her vision. They were still burning. The light zipped forward and then back to Leia before zipping forward again.

"Follow you?" Leia asked, convinced she was insane. The light bounced up and down before darting off.

Leia shrugged. She didn't have a better idea. She ran after the light not completely sure where it was taking her since it was taking so many twists and turns. Then she saw the exit to the tunnel ahead and sighed out in relieve. She turned to look at the flashing light and smiled.

"Are you… Are you my mother?" Leia asked.

The light moved from side to side and Leia took it as a no. Leia started to go but then stopped.

"Did my mother send you?" she asked and the light began to bob up and down.

Leia grinned. "Thank you. Tell her… tell her I wish she were here."

The light bobbed up and down again, Leia nodded gratefully and ran out the tunnel. She stopped when she stepped out. It was crowded of course, with all the people from the mine of course, but on the ground were imperial officers, some of them dead, and some of them just severely injured.

Leia looked for Mina and found her scanning the bracelets off a few more people.

"What happened out here?" Leia asked.

Mina shrugged. "I don't know honey, but it looks like someone set off a bomb. It was like this when we came out here," Mina raised Leia's head to her. "Darling your eyes are red. We're going to have to take care of that."

Leia blinked her eyes. "I'm okay. Where's Luke?"

Mina frowned. "I'm not sure where that little cutie is… He must be somewhere around here."

"Hurry up Artoo. Master Luke must be running out of air by now."

Leia heard Threepio's prissy voice and followed it. Threepio was standing behind Artoo who was trying to cut a hole in the window of a turned over tank.

"What's going on?" Leia asked the two droids.

"Leia," Luke said kicking again. "Is that you."

"Hold on Luke," Leia said getting on her knees. "Artoo almost has it."

"I know. Do you know how many times he's stung me with that laser?" Luke asked.

Artoo began to beep and whistle in excitement as the window pane dropped from the whole had cut into in. Leia crawled underneath and grabbed Luke's hand pulling him out.

"You okay?" Leia asked as Luke brushed himself off. "What happened? It looked like a bomb went off out here."

Luke shrugged and inspected the damage. "I guess it wasn't a laser. Must have been a torpedo or something… Hey, do you smell that?"

"What?" Leia asked and paused. Then it clicked. The mine, the gases, the fire!

Both of them felt the same warning in the force and looked at each other before running to the tower. They climbed it and when they got in, two officers were trying to contact reinforcements.

"Hey!" Leia shouted and pointed her blasters at them. "We can do this the easy way or our way. Take your pick."

"What's our way?" Luke asked raising his own blaster.

"This," Leia said and shot both of them.

"Leia," Luke said heading for the controls and checking the last few sent messages.

"It was on stun."

"Forget that, we've got bigger problems. They sent for reinforcements," Luke replied and then looked at the mine. Was he the only one seeing those flames popping up from the top?

"Everyone run!" he shouted through the microphone. "Get away from the mine!"

"It's going to explode!" Leia added though she wasn't entirely sure. But that's generally what happened when fire and gases mixed.

"Hey Leia," Luke said playing with the computers a little. "Look at this. It's information on something."

"What?" Leia asked looked at the monitor.

There was a large body of text describing the material needed and the progress being made for something. Leia assumed it was the Imperial project everyone was talking about.

"The Death Star," Luke said reading the name and then scrolling down to see a picture of what the completed project would look like.

"Stang…" Leia muttered in awe. "I's going to be the size of a small moon."

Luke shook out of his stupor first. "I'm going to hurry up and download it onto a disk. We have to get out of here," Luke said. "The Empire's coming."

"Way ahead of you," Leia said climbing down the tower. She waited under it for Luke as the warning in her mind got louder. "Luke come on!"

"I'm coming. I was just waiting on it to download."

Luke slowly started down the tower and Leia sighed. "Hurry up!"

"It's not my fault. My ankle still hurts," Luke snapped getting down.

"That won't be all you'll have to worry about if you don't hurry up," Leia said running for cover in the forest with everyone else.

"Everyone duck."

Everyone got down just as the mine exploded, throwing rock and smoke even as far as the forest. When the debris cleared, everyone stood up and Leia fanned her eyes. They were burning even worse now.

"You okay?" Luke asked.

"My eyes," Leia moaned.

"Let me take a look at them," a male Twi'lek said coming over to them. Leia stopped fanning her eyes long enough to let him looked and he sighed in relief. "You eyes will be fine. Just put some ice on it."

"Come on Leia," Luke said decided he would have to guide her. "There's some ice in the ship. But we have to leave right now or we'll both be in trouble. Threepio. Artoo. Let's go!"

Leia nodded and started to follow Luke, but the Twi'lekstopped them.

"Wait," he said. "Perhaps we can help you. We have an underground base we can hide you in. We owe you our lives."

Luke looked at Leia who shook her head. He turned back to the man who must have been the leader and said, "We really don't have much time. It's too dangerous. We have to get off planet before the Empire blocks all entry and exit or something."

"At least let us get you some supplies. Food to take on your journey. Money perhaps?"

Luke stopped walking at that point. They definitely needed some funds.

"How long do you think it'll be before the Empire get's here Leia," Luke whispered.

"I don't know," Leia said as tears started to run down her face. Luke didn't know if it was just her eyes or if she was really crying. "But my eyes."

Luke turned to him the man. "We don't have long. We'll go to your base and I'll go get our ship. You mind taking care of my sister?"

The man agreed and an hour later, Luke and Leia were on the ramp of their Naboo Star skiff.

"Alright cutie," Mina said with a wink. "When you get a lil older come back and see me."

"You always get the cute ones Mina. Let me lay a claim for once," Sandhya replied.

Luke blushed and Leia rolled her eyes turning back to the rebel leader.

"We can never thank you enough for your help," the male Twi'lek said bowing slowly and then handing Luke a credit chip. "For your troubles."

"No," said Luke. "You've already-. Ow!"

Leia smiled as Luke rubbed where she pinched her. "Oh don't try and be a noble hero. We really appreciate this although we didn't do it for the money."

"Of course," he said as Artoo rolled down the ramp to tell them the ship was ready.

"Alright. We're coming already," Luke said. "Thank you. And good luck with the Empire."

"We believe it's you that shall need the luck."

"He's right you know," Threepio said following Luke and Leia up the ramp as it closed behind them.

Luke started to take off and Leia sat down next to Threepio in one of the passenger seats.

"Where to?" Luke asked and Leia shrugged. She had something else on her mind.

"You know. I asked that rebel leader what he knew about the jedi."

Luke turned to look at her. "The jedi?"

"Yeah and get this. They had powers like we do," Leia said excitedly.

Luke regarded Leia guardedly. "So…"

"I'm saying that we may be related to a jedi!"

"But jedi weren't allowed to have families. You heard what Threepio said," Luke pointed out.

"I know that," Leia replied. "But according to the rebel leader, they weren't required to be celibate either."

Luke looked at Leia in disbelief as he punched in a random coordinate. She didn't even have to ask what she was getting at. He just knew.

"Are you trying to tell us we're the children of jedi?" Luke asked.

"Exactly. The jedi used to use the force. It was some kind of energy and it gave them the ability to do incredible things. Your reflexes, my telekinesis, empathy, you name it. Everything we can do points to it. We're force… force… sensitive he said. We can feel it, reach out to it and use it," Leia explained excitedly.

"Leia," Luke said patiently.

"Don't tell me you can't fell that it has a certain truth to it," Leia challenged.

Luke calmed down and had to agree. Something about it sounded true. Being force sensitive would explain a lot. Everyone had heard of the jedi. His aunt and uncle didn't like talking about it much, but Luke always had felt a connection to them. Being the children of Jedi might explain why his guardians never mentioned his parents, and it might very well explain his and Leia's weird abilities. It might also explain why he could sometimes hear Leia in his head…

"So?" Leia asked after a moment and Luke shrugged.

"I always did feel like I was meant to play a bigger role in something. Like I was more than just a farm boy I guess," Luke replied.

"See," Leia said jumping up and down. "Me too. You know what this means right?"

Leia started to keep talking, but Luke butted in to her surprise. "I don't know, that maybe we're meant to make a real impact on the galaxy and that saving those people Affavan was just the beginning of what we were meant to do?"

Leia blinked. "That was exactly what I was going to say. How did you-?"

_Can you hear me?_

Leia looked at Luke with her head tilted. "Was that you?"

_I guess you did hear it._

Leia relaxed and with a little more effort touched the mental link. She felt Luke emotions and could even read some of his more immediate thoughts.

"That's amazing," Leia said out loud.

Luke nodded and then looked away from her. "Maybe… Maybe we could become jedi."

"Luke. The jedi are wiped out. There's no one to teach us. Besides, the empire kills force-sensitive people," Leia pointed out.

Luke shrugged. "So? They're already after us. And who says we have to find a teacher? Somebody figured out how to use the force and became the first jedi so why can't we figure it out?"

"Alright Luke," Leia said shaking her head. "Just because we're children of jedi doesn't mean-."

"Come on Leia. We have a legacy to live up to and it doesn't mean we have to do everything the jedi did. But it would help if we could at least use the force to help us free some more slaves," Luke suggested.

Leia gave him a look and didn't even have to speak her response because Luke heard it in her mind.

"I'm saying we could do some freelance slave smuggling… except we free them instead," Luke explained. When Leia just stared at him blankly, Luke kept going. "Besides, we need to keep money somehow. If they were willing to pay us what they did in gratitude, think of what other systems would pay. It's good somewhat honest work if you think about it.

Leia kept staring for a moment before smiling widely and leaping up to hug him. Luke stumbled from her sudden weight.

"I'm so glad you said that. I wanted to say something about that, but I didn't want to force you into it," Leia muttered.

Luke grinned. "Well, we're certainly not just going to fly through space forever. And I know exactly where to go next. When we were at that base I found info about another mine similar to the one on Affavan, except this time it's just an environmental hazard. We can head there next. Oh yeah and we should try to find out more about the Death Star. What it is? What it's for? You know."

Leia shook her head. "No. We'll do all that later. First we're painting this ship. Anyone could see the color of this ship and spot us. Oh, and we're going to need more weapons."

Luke rolled his eyes at Leia's demanding tone although she couldn't see.

"Whatever you say princess," Luke sighed and Leia smiled.

"Princess," she asked.

"Don't flatter yourself. It wasn't a compliment," Luke pointed out dryly.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_In the next chapter, Luke and Leia are now fifteen and running low on money and supplies. So Luke decided to help a torgruta tribe on shili get their princess back from another rival tribe in exchanged for payment. But Leia doesn't like the idea of being on Shili. She feels like something dark is after them. However her feeling becomes the least of their worries when their caught trying to take the princess back and scheduled to be executed._

_Meanwhile, Darth Vader has found out that Luke and Leia are on Shili and has contacted the nearest star destroyer to retrieve them._

Alright that's that. I found this chapter difficult to write eventually, but decided that one more chapter was critical to show how they get into their new lives before I moved on to the next phase of the story.

Hope you enjoyed. Review Please!


	6. Shili

I am so pissed right now, so I ask to be excused ahead of time for any typos or mistakes I may have missed in editing this. Why am I pissed? Well, there's two reasons but one of them I can do something about. This one, I can't. A week into the semester, the director of my school decides to inform me I'm not eligible for one of my classes. In fact, I wasn't eligible before I registered for term! So I'm like why didn't you all tell me this... I don't know, before term started and I bought the book for the class!. I never curse, but right there in my mind I was cursing every curse word in the English language and a few in other languages. So I had to drop the class and now, if I want a full load again, I have to take a second session class which is like summer classes that last two and a half hours. Man please! I'll just keep the three I have and take five courses next term. This is ridiculous. I can't believe this. And to tell me after I've sat in two darn classes! That's so messed up. Ugh... Read, enjoy, excuse any errors I may have missed in my anger, and Review!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**Chapter Six**

**Shili  
**

Darth Vader almost began to feel sorry for his former jedi-master, and that was saying something. He would never know how two children managed to cause so much trouble where ever they went. Multiple fires, a few avalanches, one flood (he had no idea how they managed that), countless injuries, many deaths… just one disaster after the other. They were walking environmental hazards. Darth Vader gave them credit though. Their intentions were good. Darth Vader had been trying to deal a blow to the underground slave market for years, but the emperor didn't find it to be a priority. In fact he seemed to encourage it in the outer rim. However, Vader couldn't excuse the damages they were also dealing to Imperial structure and security with their crazy endeavors.

He also found out that the two children had diddle dallied in smuggling for money and, whether knowingly or unknowingly, had aided the rebellion. However they too had helped the empire on occasion. The Crisis on Lianna, an outer rim ecumenoplis planet, was proof of that. Lianna was virtually a very peaceful planet and was also the place where most of the Imperial war ships, like ties, were designed. The rebels had figured blowing up the man designing and building facility would strike a large blow to the empire, and even Vader admitted that would have been a heavy blow to the military. He would never know how the two children just happened to be on the planet, in the building, and fought off the rebels as well as disarmed the lethal detonator, and were gone well before Vader even had a chance to investigate what had happened.

The emperor wasn't pleased that two force sensitive children were zipping around the galaxy wrecking havoc, while also managing great good in some form or another, with reckless abandon in his empire. The emperor had ordered Vader to kill them. But Vader, despite the fact that he was still displeased that they had dishonored his dear Padmé so blatantly, had a better more personal idea for the children. He had been trying to figure out a way to defeat the emperor since he was put in the blasted suit that supported him. If he could get his hands on the children, turn them to the dark side, and hone their force talent, and perhaps find a way to get rid of their impeccable affinity for finding trouble, they would be valuable allies to him.

"Lord Vader," an officer said approaching him as Vader looked out into space from the bridge of the star destroyer. "Intelligence reports claim that the rebel children Kyle and Kyla were spotted on Shili and are currently still there. A torgruta tribe has hired them to save their princess."

That was another thing Vader had to get settled with the children. He was positive those weren't their real names. Something in the force just whispered it to him. But he rather them go by those names than the other two they sometimes went by… Anakin and Padmé. He was trying to forget those names and they had to remind him. But those were just pairs of names in a long list of aliases that they used.

"What's the nearest ship to that system?"

"Commander Nyklas sir. He's recruiting workers for the Hall of Heroes sir."

"Tell him that he'll be making a detour. I want him to seize those children's stolen ship and hold the passengers. I want them alive."

"Yes sir," the man spun back to his monitor and Vader nodded.

He would soon have those children in his grasp.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this," Leia complained. "This is worse than that time we infiltrated that trading post. At least there we weren't getting in the middle of a war."

"We got into the middle of a war on Affavan," Luke pointed out.

"That was different," Leia replied.

Luke rolled his eyes. Leia amazed him to no end.

"Besides, we free slaves. Not save torgruta princesses from rivaling tribes."

"And what do you think they're going to do with her eventually?" Luke asked dryly.

Leia thought for a moment and then sighed. "Fine. Point made."

"Besides. Your little spirit friend wants to go," Luke pointed out.

"Sure."

The spirit friend was what Luke had taken to calling the spirit that sometimes came to guide them. Leia had first encountered it on Affavan and claimed that her mother sent it. By then, Luke knew not to doubt any of the strange things that happened to them. The funny part was though, that Luke and Leia seemed to be the only ones that could see it.

"How did we find this anyway?" Leia asked.

Luke sighed. "We're running low on supplies. They're offering a big reward for it and I figured it couldn't hurt. We need it."

When Luke started talking about money, Leia knew they needed it. Luke had never been very materialistic and Leia didn't know whether it was from growing up on Tatooine or anything else. For him, he could either have money or not have it. He only wanted it when they desperately needed it. The only thing he may indulge in was the _Queen Amidala_. In that area, they were both similar, but Luke had a much bigger heart than she did. Sure she had a soft spot for human suffering, but she didn't believe that she should get in the middle of the torgruta who were in the middle of civil war. She didn't understand why either. They were the exact same people, but because they were in different tribes, they fought.

"How much we talking?" Leia asked.

"Lots of valuables. Some things we can sell. This tribe is more like a city too. I think they use some Imperial credits. Either way, enough to last us a while," Luke said.

"Are they expecting us?"

Luke nodded. "They've agreed to watch our ship and refuel it in addition to the rest of the reward after we get the princess back."

"One more thing," Leia said. "They won't be like our last mission will they?"

Luke thought back to a month ago during their last adventure and laughed.

"It wasn't funny. That dumb king proposed to me!"

Luke stifled a laugh and then Leia huffed and crossed her arms.

"If I recall, you weren't happy about it either. Didn't you almost use the force on that guy for even thinking about making me apart of his harem?"

Luke scowled as he began to get permission to land in the palace. "Oh yeah…"

Leia laughed. "Oh come on. Why are you so upset about it? Planning on marrying me or something?"

That comment put Luke back in his good mood. "You wish Leia."

"Do I?" she asked. "Actually, I think I want someone a little taller."

"In that case, I should have left you with that king when he asked for you."

From when he was, Threepio shook his head. "Humans. I'll never understand them," he said to Artoo. "I can't properly place their relationship. According to my databases they show some of the signs of a romantic relationship, but for the most part, it's platonic. Very confusing."

"Stop talking or I'm going to shut you down," Leia said to the droid, but he was right.

Luke and Leia both knew where they stood in their relationship even though other people didn't see it. People thought they were too close, but they both knew no one would understand their friendship if they didn't know what they had been through and shared in the last two years. Beyond some of Leia's casual flirting and teasing, something Luke had gotten used to by now and didn't turn scarlet over, they were just friends more like siblings really.

Luke shut down the ship and then pulled his weapons belt from under his seat. Leia was already ready with her arms crossed. The sooner they did this the better. They walked down the ramp of the ship together followed by Threepio and Artoo. Luke didn't know what they'd do without the two droids. They had saved their lives many times over in their missions and it always had to do with little things that Luke and Leia never would have thought about.

When they got to the bottom of the ramp, the king and queen were waiting for them with royal guards. Leia looked around and then looked at Luke.

_They call this a palace?_

Luke mentally sighed. _You act like a real spoiled princess sometimes._

_So you tell me all the time. But this is more like a large mansion than a palace._

_The torgruta aren't as rich is that other king we met, or even as rich as the Queen of Naboo. They don't put as much value on large palaces._

_You sure we're going to get paid for this well?_

Luke didn't reply and nodded his head to the king and queen. Leia regarded then silently for a moment before doing the same.

"If our ship is at all damaged or we find out you're trying to set us up, believe me when I say your lost princess isn't the only thing you'll have to worry about," Leia warned.

"Sorry about her. That's my sister's way of saying hello," Luke explained.

_Leia!_

_I'm just warning them. In this kind of work, we always have to meet people with the expectation that they'll betray us later. We don't need what happened with Marina happening here._

_You don't have to remind me. I remember what happened. It was my fault, remember?_ Luke snapped and then closed their link.

Leia sighed. Luke was having one of his mood swings again. It hadn't been entirely Luke's fault. Leia had let her guard with Marina too, simply because Luke had trusted the girl back on Corellia. They met the girl in their efforts to take over a ship that was headed to an unknown location where some big imperial project was being built. Luke and Leia assumed it was the Death Star they had been investigating. It had taken much planning and the two had been there the better part of a month, meeting Marina in the process. It wasn't so much that Luke actually trusted Marina, than the fact that he really liked her. Normally Leia was the one that regarded everyone with wary but because Luke liked her so much even she let her guard down.

As it turned out, Marina had been working for the Imperial that was chartering the flight. It had very nearly gotten Leia killed when she found out what Marina had done, and tried to stop her. Leia had never seen Luke so angry in her life except maybe the night they left Tatooine. Since then Luke was a little harder and wary of people, and though Leia hated that it happened, she was glad it got Luke to open up his eyes a little. Sometimes he forgot they weren't on some great adventure that would end all happy and perfect like in the movies.

"So tell us exactly what happened to your princess and who took her?" Luke asked.

The queen explained about the neighboring tribe and how although they had always had tense relationships, they were never hostile until a minor disagreement a few months ago.

"They infiltrated our palace and kidnapped our princess a few days ago."

"And you're sure she's alive?" Luke asked. The last thing they needed was to go looking for someone that was already dead.

"They wouldn't kill her yet," the king said. It was the first time he had spoke. Luke opened up his senses to the man and found he wasn't happy about getting outside help to find their princess, especially from two kids.

"Why not?" Leia asked playing with her blaster.

"Because they've been trying to use her as leverage to expand the lands of their tribe," the king replied. "But there's only so long that we can hold out."

"And then what?" Luke asked getting the feeling that he wouldn't like the answer.

"Either we give in or our daughter dies," the king replied.

The queen glared at him. "That is not an option!"

Luke nodded. "Don't worry. Me and Padmé will get her back."

In the last two years, Padmé was only one of the names Leia had used to keep her identity secret, but it was also her most common while Luke's most common name was Anakin (even though he adamantly denied being related to Anakin Skywalker).

"Where is this other tribe?" Leia asked.

"West of our city, about ten miles," one of the guards said.

"That's pretty close for a rival tribe," Leia pointed out. "How long have they given you?"

"We have two more standard days. They gave us a week," the queen said.

Luke exchanged a look with Leia.

"And you didn't call us sooner because…?"

The queen shrugged. "My husband is stubborn, but we heard about you and thought with your unique abilities you could help us."

"We'll need to get on this right away," Luke said. "Do you have a speeder we can use?"

"You won't be able to take the main paths. They'll see you coming. You'll have to go through the scrub lands from behind the village. It'll take a little longer to get to the palace the tribe, but you'll arrive mainly undetected," the queen said.

"That is, if you don't get attacked by the predators that hide in the turu grass," the king added.

Leia raised her eyebrow. "What's that?" she asked.

"It's the meter high grass that grows in our wild scrublands. It's very dangerous because of its colors, predators easily hide in it," the king said with a small smile.

Luke had the feeling that the king really didn't want them there and was hoping they failed. He heard torgrutas had a lot of pride, and it was probably killing him to have to ask for outside help.

"Alright Padmé," Luke said nodding to her. "Let's go."

The king looked at them in surprise. "You do not need to plan?"

Leia sighed as she looked at Luke. "We almost never do," she said though it wasn't her fault. Luke still had some adventurous farm boy tendencies in him despite the fact that his eyes were opened to some harsh realities over the last two years, particularly betrayal. That never stopped him from rushing into things though. It was the reason they were here now. They should have been looking for information on the super project of the Empire, The Death Star.

Over the last few months, they heard whispers of it from some higher ranking Imperials. Most didn't know about it. Luke heard that it had the fire power to take out a planet in one blast. Leia didn't care what it did, all she cared about were the excessive amounts labor that was needed for the project which meant slavery or darn near close to it with some of the wages she heard people were paid. They were mostly poor workers.

Either way, they both wanted to find it and had scourged the galaxy to find where it was being built just to get a good look at it, but so far, no luck.

_As soon as we're done here, we need to go back to searching for this crazy super weapon, _Leia sent.

_Fine,_ Luke said following the royal guards to the grasslands.

They stopped at the edge of it and Threepio jumped as a loud roar was heard. Luke and Leia looked at it without fear, even though it grew over both their heads. Leia grabbed it and raised an eyebrow at the red on one side and white on the other.

"Oh my…" Threepio said. "Master, would you mind if I just stayed here with-."

"No way Threepio. We need you and Artoo," Luke pointed out and then turned to Artoo. "Let us know if you sense any life forms before we do."

"We'll be back tomorrow," Leia said to the king and started into the grass. When they began to get deep in the forest she turned to Luke. "I can't believe you talked me into this."

"Oh come on Leia. It's simple enough," Luke replied.

"Sure," Leia said as she felt with the force to see if they were going in the right direction.

That was another change in the last few years… Well, it wasn't as much a change as it was development. Their powers had only increased and although Luke and Leia didn't know how it worked, they knew it had something to do with faith and confidence in what they were doing which was the reason they were stronger in desperate situations.

They were silent as they walked and even Luke was beginning to wonder why he had agreed to this. So far, nothing was happening.

_Please don't think that,_ Leia sent picking up on Luke's thoughts. _Because the moment you do is the moment-._

"Argh!"

Luke and Leia felt the warning before they ever heard the roar and stopped. Artoo began to roll around in anticipation and began communicating frantically.

"Artoo," Threepio chided. "You're talking to fast. We don't know what you're saying."

"What direction is it coming from?" Luke asked pressing his back against Leia's.

Artoo made a single beep and Luke turned to the west taking out his blaster and shooting into the grass. Whatever was in the grass didn't like what he'd done and Leia pushed him out the way just as a large creature with orange fur and sharp teeth came into their view.

"The king was right. This grass is the perfect camouflage. We were about to walk right into it," Leia yelled as she and Luke got up.

The beast roared and charged at them. Leia got off a shot at the beast and ran around the beast.

"Threepio!" Luke shouted. "What is that?"

Threepio, who was cowering behind a rock, gasped as the beast started to run to where he was.

"According to my databases, that an Akul. It's the only thing the torgruta fear. It's known to destroy their villages and destroy local ecosystems."

"I can see why they fear it," Leia said hoping one of her blast would penetrate the beast's skin. "It's huge!"

"It usually takes a whole tribe to take one down. Facing one is a sign of great courage among them," Threepio added.

"What good is courage if it gets you killed?" Luke asked and leapt into the air over beast. It reached up with one of its forearms and slashed his arm. He yelped in pain and then ducked out the way as it charged at him and continued on to Threepio who hurried away, but the Akul was too fast. It grabbed Threepio in its powerful jaws.

"Threepio!" Luke yelled and ran to the Akul. It swiped at him and Luke wisely backed away.

"Oh no!" Threepio cried. "This is the end for me Master Luke! Miss Leia! Save yourselves. It was a pleasure to sure you these last two years."

"Most dramatic droid in the galaxy," Leia said rolling her eyes and Artoo whistled in agreement as it went up to the side of the beast and shocked it only succeeding in irritating the beast further.

However, in its irritation it flung Threepio aside, the only damage being that one of his legs was broken off.

"Ohhh," Threepio moaned pathetically.

"If it takes a whole kriffing village of torgruta to take one of these down, what hope do we have?" Leia asked.

"There's got to be something!" Luke muttered as he kept moving around to keep the beast confused so it wouldn't charge. Just then, a ball of light appeared in front of him and dance around him, the spirit that Leia claimed her mother sent to help them.

"What is it?" he asked. The light rose over the top of the beast and then to the big rock that was near them.

Luke looked at the beast and then the rock as it dawned on him what the spirit was saying. The problem was neither he nor Leia had tried to lift something so heavy with the force before. They were usually limited to chairs or doing silly things like passing food to each other.

"Luke," Leia shouted. "If the Akul could use the turu grass for camouflage maybe we can too."

"Alright. Do it. I've got an idea. Artoo. Hide behind the rock," Luke said as he ran a few feet from the Akul and lied low in the grass. The beast roared and looked for its prey in confusion. It began to smell the air.

_Alright. Now for you part, _Leia sent telepathically.

_See that rock? Your spirit friend suggested we lift it over the Akul with the force and crush it._

Luke felt the doubt in his and Leia's bond as she said, _But we've never lifted anything so heavy before. I can barely lift a chair. How?_

_We've always been more powerful when we work together. Come on Leia. We can do this. We can lift that rock._

_I don't know…_

_If we doubt it we'll never do it. Besides, we don't really have the time to debate on this._

Leia sighed. _Alright._

_Just picture the rock doing what we want it to do. I always find it easier that way, _Luke said and Leia nodded.

Luke closed his eyes and touched his bond with Leia so that their energy combined. He pictured the rock floating into the air. Artoo began to whistle excitedly and Luke knew it was working.

"Almost there," Leia muttered feeling the mental strain as the rock lifted higher into the air.

The beast didn't wonder why the rock was floating. All it knew was that Artoo was suddenly back in its line of sight. It charged for the droid.

"Wait for it," Luke muttered.

"And…" Leia said

"Now," they said together just as the beast got under the rock as it chased after Artoo who was rolling away.

The rock crushed the beast with a sickening crunch of bone. Leia stood up and raced to where Artoo was looking at the dead Akul. Luke approached a little slower, his bleeding arm slowing him down.

Artoo said something to them and Luke nodded.

"Yeah buddy. I think it's dead."

Leia sighed and began to curse under her breath as she searched her back pack. She pulled out some bandages and bacta before pulling Luke to her all the while continuing to swear.

"They could have told us about this," she snapped.

"They did," Luke pointed out. "It's our fault for not being alert enough. The grass hides predators."

"All I know is that this had better be worth it in the end," Leia snapped as she hastily wrapped Luke's arm up. She didn't have time to do it properly.

Luke tested it and then stood up. "Come on princess," he said and Leia scowled at the nickname. It wasn't a compliment when Luke called Leia princess. When he called her princess, it meant she was acting like a spoiled brat. "We still have a long ways to go. We've already lost time fighting that thing.

"Wait what about-?"

"Oh," they heard Threepio moan and ran to the droid's side.

"There's no hope for me Master Luke," and the teens rolled their eyes at the dramatic display. "Leave without me. I'll just continue to slow you down."

"Looks like we're going to be losing a little more time," Leia said sighed as she started to help Luke attach Threepio's leg to him.

It took them longer than usual to re-attach Threepio's leg because the Akul had ripped some important circuits, but as soon as they were done, they started back towards their destination. They needed to make it to the other tribe before it got dark. No telling what beasts were out at night. If they hadn't taken Threepio and Artoo, they could have made better time. When they finally got to the edge of the village, the sun was starting to set, and Leia was grumpier than usual.

"You must be going through your phase," Luke pointed out as he looked through the binoculars to case the village.

"What phase?" Leia asked looking through her own binoculars.

_You know. The one you go through every month, _Luke sent as a torgruta walked past the bushed they were crouched in.

Leia blushed. _I am not!_

_Then it must be coming so. You're always in a nasty mood before it and for the first day or so,_ Luke pointed out with a grin.

_You're not supposed to know!_

_How can I not? We live together. Remember?_

Leia groaned slightly and then removed her binoculars as she turned to Luke.

"It looks like the security isn't very tight. They must not expect a lot of enemies to invade them," Leia pointed out.

"They're a small village. Not as big as the one we just came from. They're palace is kind of small," Luke said. "This place hasn't been bothered by the empire much it appears."

"Another reason we should have never come here. It's under the jurisdiction of the empire," Leia muttered.

"This shouldn't be too hard. Artoo and Threepio will stay here. Me and you will sneak inside the palace, get the princess and leave. We'll use our stealth," Luke explained.

Stealth was a power they had recently discovered in the force. When they didn't want to be seen or found, usually, they weren't. Leia had discovered that on one of their missions and Luke was glad she had. He didn't want to have to kill someone unnecessarily. Since the day they had left Tatooine, he had never used the force to kill anyone again, but when it came to Leia he certainly felt like doing so sometimes. It made him nervous when he felt like that. It was like Luke wasn't in control of himself anymore or aware of anything except the sole task he was doing. He tried to avoid using that part of the force even though the only time he wanted to use it was when he was angry or desperate.

"You're talking like this is going to be easy," Leia replied.

"It's not like we have to get around some high tech security or something Leia. Really…"

Leia sighed. "You would think you know by now that nothing is ever that easy for us. If I recall, we can never leave anywhere without someone being injured, collapsing a building, getting chased, setting something on fire, or a combination of all of it. I'm betting on getting chased and setting something on fire today."

"But that's the fun in it," Luke said with a grin.

"Let's just go. I have a bad feeling about all of this," Leia said getting up. "We can hide in the bushes and go around the perimeter of the bushes and through the gardens to enter the palace from the back."

"Now you're making this sound easy," Luke said gesturing for Artoo and Threepio to stay put.

They tiptoed around the perimeter of the village until they got to the gardens settled behind the palace. Then they started through the small garden. Leia stopped a few times to look at some of the different vegetation. She wondered if any of it was safe for humans. They easily snuck through the back of the small palace and reached out with their senses to show them the direction of the princess.

"This was," Luke said starting to walk around the corner.

Leia pulled out her blaster, grabbed Luke's shoulder and pulled him back just as a torgruta royal guard came around the corner with a long spear in hand. She took one shot at him and he fell to the ground.

He had long since become accustomed to it, but Leia's casualness when it came to killing even when necessary still amazed him. She didn't usually ask too many questions. In fact, she didn't really ask them at all. Her coldness worried Luke sometimes. If he had to do a mental evaluation of her, he'd say she was a bit of a psychopath. The only thing that disproved that was the fact that she cared so much for the well being of those who couldn't help themselves.

"Don't worry," Leia said reading his mind. "It was set to stun. I didn't kill him."

"Good," Luke said. He liked to avoid killing anyone on this simple mission. They started down the halls and then took a turn that led to the back of the palace. It was a little darker, less light and Luke assumed it was their version of a detention bay.

"This is it," Leia said walking slowly as she took noted of the cages made of strong wood. "I wonder how these things open. I don't see any locks on them."

Luke shrugged. All of the cages were empty except one near the back. He went to it and stared in disbelief. Leia felt it through his bond, went to stand next to him, and looked in shock for a moment before throwing her hands in the air.

"Oh for the love of the force," she said. "They sent us after a baby! A baby Luke! She doesn't look like she can walk. I thought we were at least talking about a, I don't know, six year old who could follow instructions."

Luke bent down to look at the sleeping child and smiled at Leia. "Come on Leia. It's not so bad. Besides, it's easy that way. She can't be hardheaded."

"Luke, babies cry. She's going to blow our cover or attract every predator within a two mile radius on our way back," Leia complained all the while trying to figure out a way to open the cage.

"How would you know?"

Leia gave him a pointed look. "I was a slave! I took care of little spoiled brats and it always got me in trouble."

Luke would also add dual personality to his mental evaluation of Leia. She was caring one moment and then calling children brats the next.

"We could sure use Artoo right now. He could have cut this wood, whatever it is," Luke said. "Don't you have a dagger on you or something?"

Leia took out a small knife and began trying to cut away at the wood. It wasn't working that well but she was making slow progress. A warning tickled her senses and Leia stopped to meet Luke's gaze. Something was very wrong about all this.

_Did you feel that?_ Luke asked.

_Yeah… something's not right._

_Wait a minute, _Luke said and then paused. _We're in a detention area where they're holding the princess of their rival tribe hostage and there are no guards posted and no one's detected our presence. Don't torgruta have some kind of senses with their headtails?"_

Leia put down the knife and grabbed her blaster. _This is way too easy…_

Luke and Leia had long since learned that if they were accomplishing their goal without many hassels, then it was trap or the desired thing they wanted wasn't there. Since they had found the princess…

Luke duck just in time to miss a torgruta jump out the shadows with a long spear. He swept him from under his feet. The torgruta fell over and managed to stab himself in the chest during his fall. Meanwhile, Leia was trying to wrestle a spear out a female guard's hands while another came behind her. Luke started to telepathically warn her, but Leia sensed the other guard and twisted around so that the woman she was wrestling got stabbed instead.

She took the spear twirled it in her hands and blocked the spear the other guard tried to swipe at her with one hand while aiming her blaster with the other. She fired a blast to the guard's stomach and he fell over.

Leia ran over to where Luke was and picked up her knife.

"We have to get out of here," she said working with more effort to cut the cages and then blinked. The part she cut had grown back.

"What the-?"

Leia was cut off as she jumped when Luke kicked someone that was coming up behind her.

"I'll take care of the guards. Get the princess," Luke yelled taking out one of his blasters and jumping over the spear.

While Leia had no qualms about killing someone, Luke only wanted to disarm the guards and so aimed a shot at his wrist so he'd drop the spear. But it seemed like every time he disabled one guard, another followed until her was surround by at least five guards all with their spears pointed at him as Leia furiously worked to cut the cage.

"Surrender now and we will make your execution quick," one of the guards said.

"Thanks," Luke said dryly hooking his blaster. "But I like the option that involves me not being killed."

"You are surrounded," another torgruta said coming in the area and judging by his clothes, Luke guessed he was the chief or king of the tribe. "It would be pointless to keep fighting."

Luke sighed and put his hands up as if surrendering as he closed his eyes. He had to really concentrate if he wanted to pull this off…

He sensed one of the guards begin to walk towards him and then with a final prayer unleashed the power he had built up. The guards were pushed in various directions by an invisible force startling the chief.

"Jedi!" he shouted.

"Maybe the son of a jedi," Luke admitted. "But not a Jedi. Leia you got that ca-."

He was cut off by Leia's scream as a particularly big torgruta pulled her against him by the waist with the knife to her neck. Luke was sure other than doing his job which was to stop them from taking the baby princess, he meant no other harm to her. But seeing Leia like that, her eyes wide with panic as someone pressed her against them and she struggle in vain took him all the way back to that night on Tatooine.

"Surrender or I'll killed her right now," the guard said.

Luke was vaguely aware of what he said as he felt something dark creep up from inside him, the same feeling he had that night when he wanted Leia's master to die for the cruelty he had done to her.

Luke reached out his hand imagining it was around that guards bare throat.

"I said-." The guard stopped as he suddenly gasped for breath and dropped Leia from his grasp as he clawed at his neck. Leia sat on the ground with her hands over her face gasping for her herself.

If he hadn't been so focused on trying to kill the guard that had Leia, Luke probably would have sensed the guard behind him before he stunned him.

"Luke," Leia screamed and started to point her weapon before feeling a prodding in her back. She didn't even have to ask what they wanted. She slowly put her weapon on the floor next to her and raised her hands in surrender all the while cursing Luke for convincing her to do this.

_Damn it!_

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Luke opened his eyes slowly and blinked against the light of the day. He sat up and looked around. He was outside and in a cage… Slowly, it all came back to him, including the fact that he had tapped into something dark the night before in trying to protect Leia. Speaking of her… He looked around for Leia and saw her huddled in the corner with the baby torgruta in her lap fixed with a permanent frown on her face.

"I was wondering when you were going to wake up. You we're out all night," she said dryly staring straight ahead.

"I was," Luke said looking around. "What happened?"

"They stunned you, I surrendered, and now we're up for public execution," Leia explained simply. Luke had a feeling when they got out of this trouble Leia was going to kill him.

"How?" Luke asked.

"Well," Leia said her voice laced with sarcasm. "There's the huge fire and there are two ropes. So I'm guessing it'll be a combination of hanging and being burned alive."

Luke noticed the large fire in a pit in the ground and the rope, along with a huge gathering of the tribe.

"They don't take well to outsiders do they?" Luke pointed out.

"Especially when said outsiders break into their palace to take war prisoners. Note to self Luke, we're never getting in the middle of a war again," Leia said sighing.

"Why have you been in such a shitty mood?" Luke snapped.

"Because I had a bad feeling about this mission from the jump. I'm confident we're going to get out of this, but I want to get off this planet and pronto. I feel like something dark is watching me," Leia admitted.

"Want to know something?" Luke asked sitting next to her."

"What?"

"I did too, but I also felt we had to come," Luke said. "It's destiny."

"We won't have a destiny unless we get out of here," Leia pointed out. "They took all of our weapons and I still haven't figured out the cage. They just seemed to open for the torgruta.

"Wait!" Luke said. "Threepio and Artoo."

Leia blinked. "I forgot about them," she admitted and then looked around with a smirk. "Speak of the sith…"

The torgruta were bringing Artoo and Threepio to stand next to their cage. Threepio sighed with relief.

"Oh thank heavens," he said. "We were so worried about you Master Luke and Miss Leia. Artoo was in an awful mood when you left us and in an even more awful mood when the torgruta apprehended us. Next time, take him with you. He's horrible company when he's in a bad mood."

"I know the feeling," Luke said smirking at Leia who, despite herself, smiled.

Artoo began to speak indignantly and Threepio shook his head.

"Don't you deny it. You've been whining and moping around all night."

The chief stood up from the chair he was in making a grand announcement to the tribe and gesturing to the fire pit, the large tree, and the two ropes.

"Threepio," Luke said frantically. "What's he saying?"

"It's hard to be sure. The torgruta language is not just words, but it's also signs with their lekku and montrals. Some even think it may be a part of telepathy It orig-."

"We didn't ask for a kriffing history lesson Threepio. What's the chief saying? In general?" Leia added.

"You're to be hung… by your hands I belief and slowly cooked to death over the fire pit before they feed you to the predators of the scrublands," Threepio translated.

Luke and Leia let out a string of huttese obscenities at the same time before Leia said. "What about the princess?"

"She shall suffer the same fate, except they will personally deliver her corpse to her people," Threepio replied.

Artoo said something angrily and Leia nodded in agreement.

"It is sick," she said. "She's just a baby. I had no idea torgruta could be so barbaric."

"They are predators," Luke pointed out. "See the sharp teeth?"

"What now?"

"We figure out how this cage works," Luke determined.

"Too late," Leia said as guards came. They stopped in front of the cage and the wood seemingly melted away to create a hole in the cage. They pulled Luke out.

Leia knew she had to do something quick or she and Luke were toast, quite literally. She replayed the image of the torgruta opening the cage in her mind. He wade some kind of motion with his head tails and montrals. Threepio said it was also used as a form of communication, telepathy even. Leia snapped her fingers.

Perhaps the wood was more like a plant with a small level of conscious. That would explain why Leia could never cut it and it would also explain why the cage had no doors.

"Okay," she muttered so the torgruta guard wouldn't hear her. She imagined that doing this would be similar to communicating with Luke through their bond. She concentrated and felt the presence of the wood in the force… There was a very dim life… no it had plenty of life. This was more like conscious a dim one.

_Luke, when I say so. Fight off the guards._

_What?_ Luke said as he stopped, forgetting that there was rope tied around his hand and stumbling when they continued to tug him along to the pit.

_Just do it._

Leia turned to Artoo. "You still got those two… things I stashed inside your compartment?"

Artoo beeped in the affirmative and Leia nodded. She touched the conscious of the wood again.

_Open,_ she thought and then said it again for good measure. _Open._

At first nothing happened and Leia thought she had failed until the wood began to melt apart again.

_Luke now!_

Luke stopped and yanked hard on his rope pulling the guard guiding him back. The guard standing next to the cage ran forward to help and Leia hurriedly stood up with the baby cradled in her arms and ran out the cage.

Artoo threw out one of the blasters to her and Leia caught it in her hands. With her almost perfect aim. She took out the two guards in two quick shots. Luke used one of the spears to cut away the ropes away from his wrist and then ran to where they were. By then the entire crowd was in an uproar and more guards were headed their way. Artoo tossed him the other blaster and Leia turned around ready to meet the guards.

"Don't worry," Luke said getting in front of her. "I'll hold them off. Get the princess away."

Leia nodded and took off with Threepio following closely behind her. Artoo decided to stay with Luke.

Luke grabbed one of the fallen spears and ran to meet the guards, careful not to get too close to the blazing fire. The chief stood up and yelled something in his native language and Luke didn't have to speak it to know it was something along the lines of, "Get that human child!" He had heard it many times before.

He carefully maneuvered under the spears even dropping to the ground a few times as the torgruta attacked him. They didn't expect him to shoot from below him. One shot got a guard in the leg and he stumbled back, right into the fire pit. The fire grew higher and sparks began to spew from the pit igniting the branch above it.

Luke heeded the warning he felt in his senses and shot the guard directly behind him, darting past the warrior in his distraction. As he ran, he set his blaster to stun. It seemed like even injuries didn't stop the aliens so it was better to knock them out. Just as he got out the way, the burning tree branch fell right onto the torgruta guards and set them aflame, if the branch hadn't crushed them. The phonetics from the chief changed, and Luke was thankful he was now more concerned about his village burning than about the prisoners escaping.

"Come on Artoo!" Luke yelled.

Leia meanwhile stopped to hide in a bush right on the perimeter of the village. The small forest on the edge of it made too much noise for her to risk continuing. If the guards following her heard her, she was dead. They ran much faster than she could.

Threepio laid flat on the ground in front of her. A guard was making his way near them. Leia sat stiffly as she watched him pass her and let out the breath she had been holding. Then the unthinkable happened. The baby began to stir out of its sleep and Leia shook her head. She knew from the night before that torgruta babies had strong lungs and if it woke up, it would start crying again.

_Stay sleep. Don't wake up,_ Leia thought as she rocked the child gently. It was starting to work until a sudden uproar from the village startled her awake. The child began wailing.

"Stang," she swore barely able to comprehend what was happening as the spear came through the bushes and struck Threepio in the back denting his copper plating.

"Thank you!" Leia said silently to whatever entity was watching over her and open fired on the guard. It might have been excessive, but she couldn't get a clear shot and calm the baby at the same time.

"Leia!" she heard Luke yell. "Let's go while we have the chance."

Leia didn't need to be told twice as she came out the bushes followed by Threepio who was moaning about his back.

"We've got to go now," Luke said pulling her.

"On foot?" Leia asked rolling her eyes.

"I don't see anything that can help," Luke snapped.

"Not here. I saw some horses not too far from here when they were bringing us out," Leia said.

"Horses?" Luke said. "Man they really are stuck in the pre-galactic history."

"It's better than nothing," Leia said leading the way. They made it to the horses and Leia started to climb on one of them.

Artoo began to protest and Leia slapped her head. "Oh I forgot. Artoo."

Luke looked around and saw a water bin for the horses. Luke dumped out the water and helped get Artoo into it before taking off his belt and tying the bin to the saddle.

He got on a horse with Threepio who was fretting over how high they were and got the horse going following Leia who was already ahead of them. Artoo fell on his back in the bin and verbalized his displeasure. Luke looked back as they got on the main path out the city since they didn't need to sneak in anymore.

"Wow," Luke said with guilt. "That fire's really spread. Maybe we should go back and help. It was our fault…"

"Have you gone nuts?" Leia snapped as she balanced on the horse with one hand. "I'm putting as much distance between me and that city as possible."

An hour later, after they had slowed down rested before keeping on to the palace, Leia was still fussing.

"I swear Luke," Leia snapped trying to control the crying baby torgruta princess. "The next time someone asks us to save a baby princess or prince, we're charging them double our usual asking price."

"I thought we didn't have an asking price," Luke replied as they made their way to the tribal palace.

"We do when it come to these torgruta. Not only do they have rare jewels and wealth, but we're risking our lives being so close to the core," Leia snapped.

Luke rolled his eyes. "It's not that close. We're somewhere between the inner rim and the mid rim, the expansion region I think. Besides, as if we don't risk our lives all the time anyway."

"Whatever," Leia grumbled.

"Look. There's the city," Luke pointed out.

Leia would have jumped off the horse and started running towards it if it weren't for the princess in her arms. When they got to the palace two torgruta guards with many knifes and two long swords crossed over their backs greeted them at the gates and let them through. They made their way directly into the palace and then to the throne room. The queen and king were sitting there and both Luke and Leia bowed in respect.

"Is this yours?" Leia asked holding out the child with disdain. She and Luke had gone through a lot of trouble for the child.

"I hope you didn't go through a lot of trouble," the queen said softly obviously trying to contain her joy, as a servant took the princess.

"Oh no," Leia said sarcastically. "Just sneaking into the palace, taking on royal guards, getting captured and threatened to be hung and burned, along with having nearly getting stabbed to death in a bush when the baby started crying. But other than that. No trouble at all…"

_Leia!_ Luke sent and the said girl sighed.

The king looked at her passively and said, "We will certainly compensate you for your trouble."

"Heavily," Leia added.

"As you wish," he said and then turned to the servants. "Escort Mr. Kyle and Miss Kyla to a room for the night, where they can clean up and get some rest."

"Thank you," Luke said mentally nudging Leia to keep her mouth closed. "Is they somewhere we can get our droids cleaned up?"

"We will take care of that," the queen said and Luke thought she would probably give them just about anything for bringing her daughter back.

Luke and Leia bowed slightly and followed the servants out the throne room and down the hall.

"Luke," Leia said softly as they walked.

"What is it princess," Luke said sensing that whatever Leia was saying was going to be demanding.

Leia ignored the insult and said, "When we leave this Shili, you're taking me on a vacation."

"As you wish princess."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_In the next chapter, Luke and Leia are captured on board a Star Destroyer in command of Commander Nyklas who has orders from Darth Vader himself to keep them alive, although the dark lord didn't specify how. Thankfully and surprisingly to Luke and Leia, the Lieutenant charged with making sure they don't escape, Han Solo, isn't anywhere near as bad as his superior officer. But that doesn't mean Luke and Leia want any more to do with him when they escape. That is until he refuses Nyklas when he's ordered to skin a wookie alive after he attempts to escape._

**AN**: I'm so totally pissed right now. I don't even have anymore comments besides those in the beginning. Again, excuse any mistakes that I may have missed on account of my anger. Hope you enjoyed. Review Please!


	7. Han Solo

I enjoyed this chapter because Han was in it and it added a new dynamic to the story. Threepio and Artoo aren't in this one much because I forgot about them halfway through writing this and didn't feel like trying to incorporate them. So I just mention that Luke and Leia shut them down. Read, enjoy, and review!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**Chapter Seven**

**Han Solo  
**

"So where are we going for our vacation?" Leia asked as Luke prepped the ship for their leave of shili. She had just shut down Threepio and Artoo. Both of them deserved a break after that adventure.

"I was thinking about Drall. They have good food I heard," Leia continued and Luke laughed. Leia was practically in love with food…"

"Or maybe we can go back to Lianna. It was a beautiful city, and it's pretty much a neutral planet. It's not part of the empire exactly after all."

Luke winced. He wondered if Lianna would be safe for them to go back to after the trouble they had caused… Well it hadn't been their fault really. They were just there to paint their ship and get a few extra weapons capabilities on the ship like some hidden manual cannons they could use just in case they needed them since it was the place where the empire ties were designed, they figured they should see. How they were there just when the rebellion was going to blow up the main designing facility baffled Luke. It was a matter of luck that he and Leia managed to stop the rebels, disengage the detonator, and find the woman who placed it.

"Lianna?" Luke asked unsure as he took off and flew into space.

"Fine. You're right. Oh I know," Leia said suddenly. "We can go to Alderaan. I hear it's a little like Naboo. Maybe we can sneak a visit to Winter."

"It doesn't matter Leia," Luke said shrugging. "Where ever you want to go. I'm just the pilot."

Leia sighed and crossed her arms. "Luke!"

"Alright. Alright," Luke said laughing. "I'm thinking. Okay. I know. How about- Sith."

Leia frowned. "Sith? I've never heard of a planet-." Leia suddenly realized Luke wasn't talking about a planet when she felt his panic and urgency. She stood up to look out the visor with him and started to feel the same.

"Is that a star destroyer?"

"A small on," Luke said. "But yeah."

Leia looked at him as they kept heading toward it. "Luke turned around!"

"I'm trying! I think they got us in the tractor beam," Luke explained.

"Oh no!" Leia said and ran to the back of the ship to find weapons. She opened the cabin they had designated for it and searched for one of the more dangerous weapons in their personal. She heard Luke turn off the engines.

"Why did you do that?" Leia yelled.

"It's no use. We can't get out of it. If I keep trying to, I'll fry the engine and we'll have no way to escape," Luke said and felt the presence of many guards. "You may want to put those weapons away too."

"So we just let them capture us?" Leia asked searching Luke's eyes.

Luke felt her terror. If there was anything Leia feared more than death, it was having her freedom taken away from her again, mainly because she knew what could happen if it was.

"Don't worry Leia," Luke said softly. "You'll be okay. We've been okay so far. Don't worry. I'll make sure you're safe. I'll never let anything happen to you as long as I'm capable of stopping it alright?"

Leia put down the blaster obviously trying to hide her tears from Luke.

"Okay," she muttered pulling herself together as she felt them land. "You going to let down the ramp?"

Luke nodded and lowered the ramp. Storm troopers met them there with their blasters cocked.

"You two are under arrest," the commander said approaching them flanked by an entire squadrons of troopers.

_Someone must have told this guy we're trouble, _Luke sent to Leia amused.

_We're still going to get away, _Leia sent in a smug tone and then added, _When we come up with a plan._

"As if we didn't know that already," Luke replied aloud.

"Lord Vader will be very pleased that you all are finally in his grasp," the roguish human male said.

Luke and Leia bother paled while simultaneously sending, _Sith!_

"Yeah that's right," the commander said and Leia looked at his tag to get his name as he looked at them. Commander Nyklas led the two cuffed teens to the bottom of the ship and turned to a lieutenant.

"Lieutenant Solo," Nyklas said.

"Yes sir!" the man Luke guessed was Solo said.

"Escort these two to a high security detention area.

Solo did a double-take and then turned back to his commander.

"With all due respect sir, they're only kids."

"I'll show you who's only a kid," Leia said starting to step towards the man and show her exactly why they were being arrested and put into high security detention.

_Leia! _Luke sent to the girl and reached out his cuffed hands to grab her arm and pull her back. That wasn't good. Leia usually had a level head in these kind of situations. She was bothered by something more than the thought of being kept in captivity.

_What's wrong with you?_

Leia didn't reply immediately but finally sent, _It's that commander. I know that look._

Luke started to ask her what she meant until she looked at the commander who had pushed Luke aside and was circling her.

"Lord Vader said he wanted you alive, but he wasn't specific about how…"

Luke suddenly picked up on everything that Leia saw in the man's face through the force and lunged for the man not caring about his handcuffs.

"You leave her alone you bastard," he snapped.

"Luke!" Leia shouted as a storm trooper knocked him in the head with his blaster. Luke stopped and almost fell over until the lieutenant (Solo, Nyklas had called him) caught him and steadied him. Blood drip down the side of his head, but he didn't care as he glared murder at the commander.

"Solo, escort them to the detention bay."

That time, the lieutenant didn't say anything except lead them away with the squadron of storm troopers following them. When they were far enough away, the man, who Luke guessed was at least six or seven years older than he and Leia fell next to Luke.

"You okay kid?" he asked in a heavy accent that sounded Corellian. Leia wasn't sure though.

"Yeah, fine" Luke grumbled as he felt a headache coming on.

Leia however held up her head and shot, "Why should you care? You weren't exactly trying to help the situation back there!"

Leia expected him to look down in shame and say something akin to Luke shouldn't have attacked Nyklas in the first place, but instead she felt his anger at her comment through the force.

"Well what was I supposed to do? I have a job to keep here," he snapped.

"As if you wanted to help in the first place," Leia shot.

Luke rolled his eyes. "Leia don't be so difficult. We'll get out of here."

"It's not me. It's this stuck up Imp! They all act the same. Hot tempers, don't like to be told the truth. Can't stand it," Leia muttered.

"I could say the same for you princess," Luke said but was surprised when someone echoed it.

Leia was staring at the lieutenant in anger now, not having heard Luke say the same thing.

"Why you… you… Ugh!" Leia finally groaned.

Luke glanced at her in surprise. Leia didn't usually let anyone ruffle her up this much.

"Pleasure's all mine," the man said sarcastically leading the two to the back of the detention bay. As they passed them Leia was aware of tall brown furred humanoid creatures in some of them, children.

"What are they?" she asked in concern.

"Wookies," the man replied.

"Why are they locked up?" Luke asked.

"Frankly kid, it ain't none of you business, but if you must know, they're being taken to Coruscant to work."

"To work or be slaves?" Luke asked in suspicion.

"Has anyone ever told you that you ask too many questions kid?" the man asked as the troopers opened to cell doors. They pushed Leia in one after they took off her cuffs and started to push Luke in another, but he held his ground.

"We go in the same cell," Luke insisted.

The lieutenant rolled his eyes. "You and your sister have to be the most difficult prisoners we've ever had. Why the stang do you have to do that?"

"Because I don't want her to be alone in case your commander gets any ideas," Luke pointed out.

"That… He probably won't do anything. He was just trying to scare her," Solo insisted.

"If someone can take a person's freedom away for no reason," Leia began firmly in reference to the Wookies, "which is one of the worst things that can be done, their evil knows no bounds." Leia finished then added softly, "Trust me. I know."

The lieutenant looked between Luke and Leia quite positive he had missed something between them before throwing his hands up in the air in consent.

"Fine. Go in there with her. Just don't try anything or it's my job and rank kid," he said closing the other cell door.

Luke nodded in thanks and felt something about the man. He couldn't explain the feeling. There was just something about him.

The door closed and Luke sat next to Leia on the metal bench. She seemed too bothered to remember she hated closed spaces and wasn't sweaty or shaking yet. She'd probably be okay for a while before she got to that point.

"What's up with you?" he asked. "You act like that guy was your worst enemy."

Leia sighed. "It wasn't that Luke," she assured.

Luke raised his eyebrows and waiting for Leia to continue. When she didn't, he prodded her further. "So what was it?"

Leia leaned her head on the cold wall and closed her eyes, a habit of hers when she was bothered by something.

"There's something about him. I'm not sure what yet, but… there's something."

"You feel it too?" Luke asked.

"I can always feel people who are going to play a part in my life orsomething. I felt you," Leia admitted as she thought back to the day Luke walked in the shop she was in. "I was probably a little mean to you but I felt our connection when we first met. I didn't know what it was or what it meant and I still don't. I just know we need each other. We're all we've got," Leia muttered and Luke sensed her dozing off. Leia always went to sleep when she was scared and there was nothing she could do.

Luke leaned her upper body on his lap and then closed his own eyes. He had a headache from where the storm trooper his him… Maybe he could use a little rest too.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Hey kid, princess," someone whispered.

Leia was up first followed by Luke who looked at little groggier than usual. He put a hand to his forehead and touched his cut. He winced.

"That is kind of nasty ain't it kid. Here. Put this on it."

Luke looked up to see the lieutenant from earlier handing him a piece of cloth with bacta on it and something to patch up the offending wound. Leia was eyeing him cautiously as she sat up.

_What do you think?_ Luke asked still watching the cloth the man was holding out.

Leia shrugged. _Well, they said Darth Vader wants us alive so I guess they would send someone up here to check on us. But I wonder why they sent a lieutenant._

_They probably know our track record of bamboozling lesser men and women, _Luke sent amused as he slowly took the cloth and pressed it to his wound.

Again, Solo felt like he had completely missed something between the two children but dismissed it as he hand them both a ration bar.

"It aint much, but it's better than nothing," he said.

Luke and Leia exchanged a confused look as they tried to get a feel of the odd man. They had never met an Imperial officer who treated them like they were on level ground. Leia, always the more wary one, touched the force to try to get a feel of the man's true intention and was shocked when she felt it. His kindness was sincere.

Luke felt Leia's caution and tried to figure out if he should feel the same or trust the guy a little. He didn't seem so bad. Then again, Luke's inclination to trust people and see the best in them had gotten the two in trouble before. So instead, he decided to test the waters.

"Why are you being so nice?" Luke asked for Leia's sake more than his.

The man shrugged. "Well I figure if Darth Vader wants you alive, I'd better keep you that way. Besides, the commander wanted someone to keep an eye on you two since pretty much the entire fleet knows about your little escapades and he didn't trust a storm trooper or lower ranking officer for the job."

"That doesn't mean you have to be nice about it," Leia pointed out. Her former masters wanted her to be kept alive too, but they certainly weren't nice to her. They took every opportunity to degrade her and make her feel worthless.

Solo raised his eyebrow. "You want me to be mean about it princess?"

Leia started to say something, but Luke, having a feeling it wasn't going to be nice, beat her to replying.

"We're just not used to our captors showing us hospitality or many people at all really," he admitted taking the cloth from his forehead.

"I know the feeling kid," the man replied starting to leave.

"You know Lieutenant Solo, this doesn't change anything," Leia said making it clear. "We're still going to escape eventually. We always do."

The man shrugged. "Do what you want princess. I'm not too concerned about keeping you here, but I do have a job to keep. So when you do escape, make sure it's not on my watch."

Luke laughed and Leia glared at him. He was getting too comfortable around this man.

"Just make sure you don't get in our way lieutenant," Luke warned with a grin.

"I don't plan to and stop calling me lieutenant. It makes me feel like an old prude coming from you two," Solo admitted. "The name's Han."

Han left the cell and closed the door behind them leaving the teenagers to themselves.

"I told you there was something about that guy," Leia muttered.

"Yeah," Luke agreed. "He was pretty nice."

Leia rolled her eyes. "I'm not buying it and neither should you. I bet he's trying to get us to let our guard down so we won't put up a fight when Vader gets here."

Luke sighed. "Why do you always have to be so mistrustful? He didn't seem like a bad guy. He's just acting out the function of his job. We can't blame him for that even if that is the case."

"Isn't that what you thought on Corellia with Marina?" Leia shot.

Luke averted his gaze from Leia momentarily before looking back at her. She had a point.

"Yes, but this is different. I'm not letting a crush get in the way," Luke began.

Leia smirked. "I certainly hope not. I'd be majorly disappointed."

Luke ignored her flirting and continued. "I'm saying that nothing is clouding my judgment this time. I don't think Han's a bad guy."

Luke sensed Leia's skeptical attitude and guessed he couldn't blame her. But now she was letting past experiences cloud her own judgment. The girl had an inclination to not trusting people sometimes, but she definitely _always_ had an inclination toward not trusting men. She was always looking for a game or a ploy behind good deeds. On the other hand, Luke tried to look past all the bad to look for some good. In a sense, they were the perfect team. They balanced each other out.

"Well I'll believe it if he's put to the test," Leia pointed out. "But I don't trust the guy."

Luke then realized something. "Wait. Why are we talking like we're going to let this guy join us or something?"

"I'm not talking that way. You are," Leia responded. "But you bring up a good point. We should be talking about how we're going to get out of here before the big guy in the black suit comes for us."

Luke started to nod and then winced when it hurt his head. Leia forgot about what she was saying and went to Luke's side to inspect the wound.

"They hit you pretty hard. I hope you don't have a concussion or something… or worse a hemorrhage," Leia said fearfully.

"It's fine," Luke said pushing Leia away from him. She gave him a wry look and put her hands on her hips.

"You really shouldn't have attacked that scum," she scolded.

"You shouldn't shoot people without asking questions," Luke shot back.

"Says the person who will fight someone, hurt or not, simply for saying they'll hurt me," she said and Luke sighed.

"That's different Leia," he explained. "You've been through enough, more hell than some people go through in a life time. They shouldn't say those things to you or even threaten to hurt you… in any way," he added. "So they deserve it."

Leia had always been touched by Luke's fierce protectiveness over her even though it had bothered her at first because he wasn't one to pick a fight for himself. But he didn't waste a second to pick a fight with someone for her. She sighed.

"Well," Leia said going to inspect the wound anyway. "You can't fight anyone for me if you're hurt."

"You're no doctor," Luke pointed out.

"But I do have the force now don't I? If you help we might be able to heal some internal damages, if any, and get rid of that headache," she suggested.

"My head hurts too bad to try to focus on something like that. And how do you know the force can heal?" Luke muttered.

"Well, if we can move rocks, sense people, and emotions, healing isn't too farfetched if you ask me," she replied.

"If you want to try, be my guest. Can't make it any worse."

Leia closed her eyes and touched Luke's cut with her fingers and touched Luke's presence with her mind. She calmed down saying to herself, 'I can do this. This can be done," over and over until she felt the pain through the force and winced as she felt the phantom pains in the same spot on her head while she focused to will the pain away and fix its cause.

Leia opened her eyes and looked at Luke who was blinking incredulously. He touched his head and then bobbed his head up and down to test it.

"It's gone. It doesn't hurt anymore," he said amazed.

"Well, the cut's still there, but I figure we can work with it. Where's that patch Solo gave you?"

"Han," Luke said handing it to her. "And how did you do that?"

Leia shrugged as she started to put the patch on. "I used our connection and hoped it would work."

"I'm glad you did," Luke said grateful as he picked up the ration bar Han had left for them. "Now I can eat something."

"If you can call these things food," Leia said taking a bite out of hers. "When we get out of here we have to stock up on food too."

"Of course," Luke said grinning. "A princess must always have fresh fruits, vegetables, and meat. She cannot settle for rations."

Leia nudged him playfully and Luke returned in kind. He sat and ate on his bar slowly before saying, "I wonder what Darth Vader wants with us. I mean, I knew we were in trouble with the empire, but for him to want us is pretty drastic."

"Well, we have escaped the empire's clutches time and time again, not to mention we're force users. The empire kills powerful force users and Darth Vader is usually the one who brings down the sword or whatever his weapon's called," Leia added.

"They wouldn't have to worry about it if we could just find somewhere to settle down. I mean, I love the adventure and being able to go where ever I feel like, but if it meant them leaving us alone, I wouldn't mind us settling down somewhere," Luke replied and didn't realize what he said until it was too late, and Leia had snatched the opportunity.

"Is that your way of proposing to me Luke Skywalker?" she asked slyly.

Luke blushed. "What? No! I mean, not that there's anything wrong with you or that I don't like you or something… I mean… Ugh! Leia!"

Leia laughed. "I can't help it. You just set yourself up for that kind of stuff and then go and stick your foot in your mouth."

"Still, I hate when you do that and I'm not expecting it," he replied.

Leia hit him on the arm. "I'm just teasing Luke."

"If I didn't know you, you wouldn't come off as the teasing type to me."

Leia shrugged. "I probably picked it up from when I was on Affavan."

"You were what, six?"

"Five," Leia corrected. "And very impressionable. Besides, you know we could never settle down and stay out of trouble. Trouble practically follows us where ever we go. Remember Lianna?"

"The empire should stop chasing us just for that reason alone. If we hadn't stopped those rebels, the fleet would have been weakened," Luke said crossing his arms. "Lianna designs and makes the ties."

"That's another reason we can't settle down. I doubt the rebellion likes us much either," Leia pointed out.

"So we're going to spend the rest of our lives on the run and freeing slaves?" Luke asked and then added, "With nowhere to go and no home to run to?

"What are you saying? That you're tired now?" Leia snapped ready to convince them why they should keep going.

"No," Luke said. "I love what we do now. I'm just say in the future, the far future. Are we always going to be fugitives? Will the empire ever forget?"

Leia laughed. "You mean will Darth Vader forget… I hear that guy can hold a grudge. But I haven't really thought about it to tell you the truth. I guess we just wait and see what happens," she said looking at the door. "I wonder if anyone warned them that I can easily get out of cells."

"Why haven't you done that already anyway?" Luke asked standing up. "I'm bored. I think we've humored them enough. Let's get out of here."

"Sit down oh impulsive one," Leia said pulling Luke back down next to her. "I couldn't let us out and you hadn't recovered. Besides, we need a plan. There's only one way in this place and only one way out."

"Your point?" Luke asked.

"I mean we can't just go barging out there with no weapons mind you when there are at least six guards out there," Leia replied.

Luke saw her point. They at least needed a blaster or something. An idea struck him, a ridiculous one, but an idea nonetheless.

"Han!" Luke said.

"That lieutenant?" Leia asked rolling her eyes. "What can he do for us?"

"He had a blaster on him. The next time he comes to check on us, we'll take it from him," Luke said looking at Leia who, to his surprise, seemed a bit skeptical about it. "What?"

Leia looked around the room as if having an inner battle with herself and started to say something before Luke noticed her eyes start to dart around the cell again. She looked behind her and then turned back to Luke. Luke felt her sudden panic and rushed to her side. They would have been perfectly fine if she hadn't looked around the cell and noticed the four walls.

"Leia no," Luke said put a hand on her trembling arm. "You can't lose it now. We have to get out of here."

Leia shook her head. "I didn't notice how small this cell was."

"It's not that small," Luke said and Leia still managed to give him a dry look in her sudden and growing panic.

"Stang," he muttered. He knew it was only a matter of time before it really began to sink in, but he was hoping she might pull through. "Come on Leia. Don't go there."

"I can't help it," Leia muttered closing her eyes as she began to mutter under her breath. "Let me out. I want out. I hate this place."

Leia's voice was rising with each word and the last thing Luke needed was her all out screaming fit. He hadn't had to deal with one of those since they infiltrated that black market slave post right after their birthday five or six months ago. Not only that, but he wasn't sure how imperial officers would deal with her. They might just sedate her or knock her out and that would undoubtedly make it worse when she woke up again.

"Leia, don't think about those places," Luke said knowing she was probably imagining the places she had been trapped in as a slave when she was a young girl. "Not all closed spaces are bad. Think about the room Queen Kylantha gave us on Naboo."

Leia slapped his hands away. "I wasn't trapped there. No one was locking me in."

"Just think about it," Luke urged. "Remember how pretty it was? Remember the beige colored walls with the blue stencils for designs and the paintings. Remember that painting of the lake that was in your room? You would sit on the soft beds and red comforters and just stare at it for a moment remember?"

"The balcony," Leia muttered as she calmed down.

"Yeah," Luke said in excitement as she seemed to come back to her senses. "It overlooked the garden and there was a big fountain. I had never seen so much water in one place, remember?"

Leia nodded as she relaxed in his arms and laid her head on his chest.

"That's it sis," he said softly. "Relax. You won't be trapped in here forever."

Leia nodded her head and closed her eyes. "Thanks Luke," she sighed before drifting off to sleep.

Luke sighed. It looked like they were going to be here a while longer. They had to wait for Han to come back anyhow.

Luke leaned Leia on the bench and then sat on the floor to wait for Han to come back. He hated having to trick the man and when he and Leia escaped, he would probably be blamed for it all, but it was the only way. Luke sighed and began to pace the cell. He was still pacing when Han came back a few hours later with two bottles of water and two more ration bars.

"Thanks," Luke said taking the items and setting Leia's share aside for when she woke up.

"No problem kid," Han said and glance as Leia. "What's wrong with her highnessness?"

Luke looked over at her and then shrugged. "What makes you think something's wrong with her?"

"She's all sweaty and shivering?" Han pointed out.

Luke started to say it wasn't the man's business, but decided it would be a useful way to get Han to stay long enough for Luke to accomplish what he needed.

"She's better than she was before," Luke said leaning against the wall giving Han a full view of Leia. Han stepped closer to her.

"What do you mean? She'll be okay, right?" Han asked. "Because I don't want a pissed off Vader on my back if something happens to her."

"She's not going to die. Vader didn't actually say how he wanted us alive did he?" Luke asked though he got the feeling that Han was actually concerned about Leia's well-being and was using Vader as a cover up.

"You sure kid?" Han asked.

Luke nodded. "She's claustrophobic if you must know. She'll be okay when she gets up."

Han nodded in understanding and then turned to leave the room. He chanced one more glance at Leia and then closed the cell door. Luke sighed as he pulled the blaster from behind his back. It was all too easy to take it. The man hadn't even noticed. But he couldn't help but feel guilty for taking advantage of his concern for Leia. People had tried to do that to Luke in the last two years too. They never succeeded but still, he felt bad doing the same thing to someone else.

Luke sat down and sipped on his water and ate off the ration bar as he waited for Leia to wake up so they could escape. The girl started to stir only minutes after Han left, but what really woke her up was the commotion going on outside.

Leia sat up hearing a loud bang. It sounded like a blaster shot ricketing through the hallways. Luke looked at her and then ran to the door to peer out the window.

"What happened?" Leia said joining him.

"Surprisingly, we had nothing to do with it," Luke pointed out as he saw an adult Wookie running through the corridors followed by the Wookie children.

"You mean to tell me someone beat us to busting out of here?" Leia asked in surprise.

"I guess so," Luke said and shrugged. "Well, since the exit's is clear, I guess this is our cue to take our leave."

Leia opened the door and ran out into the hallway before running toward the exit. She looked down and gasped at the guards who were lying in a heap on the ground, some with broken limb bent in odd angles.

"Remind me not to get on a Wookie's bad side," she said dryly and picked up a fallen blaster.

"Come on Leia," Luke said pulled her into the lift. When it brought them down to the main hall, alarms were blaring and officers were running around with such fervor and hurry that they hardly noticed the two teenagers walking out the lift from the detention bay.

"Those wookies are causing more havoc than we usually do," Luke said running over fallen bodies that the wookies had trampled.

"Security breech. All pilots prepare to give chase to the escaped prisoners. They've stolen a ship," a voice said over the speakers.

"A ship," Leia replied. "It had better not been ours."

The hall turned into the railing that overlooked the hanger and Luke grinned.

"Our ship is still here. We can still make it out of here," he said in excitement.

They started in the direction of the ship and as Luke turned the corner he skidded to a stop and pushed Leia the other way.

"Not that way," he said pushing her along as officers followed behind them They turned back into the hall they had just come from and Luke managed one shot before the officers open fired. They ducked back behind the wall and Luke moved over so Leia could get where he was.

"Deflect the shots, Leia," he said frantically.

"I'm trying, but I can't just jump out there while they're firing on us," Leia yelled over the shots.

"Then let's try another way," Luke said.

"That's what I was trying to tell you," Leia said running back down the hall ahead of Luke. She took a right turn and saw another lift at the end of the hall. They climbed in it, but in their hurry, pressed the wrong button.

"Luke!" Leia said.

"It wasn't my fault. You were in the way."

"Don't blame this on me," Leia snapped as the door opened.

They spared one glance at each other before ducking behind a control panel and peaking around it. How they ended up on the bridge, they had no idea.

"Lieutenant Solo," Commander Nyklas was yelling through a com. "Shoot that ship down."

_The wookies! _Leia sent. _He's going to kill them._

_There's not much we can do now, _Luke said although he was praying to the force that somehow, the wookies would be saved.

"Negative sir," the two heard Han said over the com. "There are children on that ship. But they're in range of the tractor beam sir."

Commander Nyklas cursed at the lieutenant and headed toward the lift to go to the hanger. If he had only turned to look to his left, he would have noticed where Luke and Leia were pressed against the back of the control panel. He and the storm troopers with them got on the lift and when the doors closed, Luke and Leia let out a sigh of relief.

"Let's go," Luke said.

"We can't. That tractor beam. If we don't deactivate it, they'll catch us again," Leia replied in a harsh whisper. "And I am _not_ going back in that cell."

Luke rolled his eyes. "Of course princess. Now set to stun," he said dryly as he stood up and stepped from behind the control panel.

"Alright everyone," Leia said pointing her blaster. "Stop what you're doing and keep your hands where I can see them." she looked to and officer on her right. "And don't even think about giving any signals."

Luke sighed as they walked toward the end of the bridge. "You would think with prisoners on the loose they would put more security on the bridge. Instead the commander took all security from the bridge. How dumb is that?"

Leia shrugged as she looked at the dozen or so officers left. She and Luke could take them all on if needed.

"I feel like a pirate holding a stick up or something," Leia pointed out with a smile as she felt a warning in the back of her mind and spun around to shoot two officers who were trying to grab at their own weapons.

"Disable the tractor beam," Luke said a little nervously as he pressed the gun in one of the officer's side. He and Leia had never done anything quite as bold before. They usually caused distractions, sabotaged, and did stuff that went unnoticed until it was obvious someone was messing around but they currently didn't have time.

The officer shook as he turned around while Luke held the blaster in his back. Leia rolled her eyes.

"Oh please. Here's how we disable the tractor beam," she said and started to shoot on all the controls.

"Leia!" Luke exclaimed and stunned the officer who seemed to have suddenly gotten a backbone and was attempting to take out Leia.

Another man, and judging by his uniform Luke guessed he was the captain, tackled Luke down and Luke's blaster flew from his hands.

"Get off him," Leia shouted trying to grab the man. She couldn't shoot him without hitting Luke.

Leia stopped and whipped around to stun another officer that came up behind her.

"Alright," she said. "I'm tired of mutinies. Get off my brother you imperial-."

Leia called him something very foul in huttese and then reached out with her hand as she concentrated on the force, lifted the man into the air and threw him across the room.

"Ow," Luke said holding the back on his head as Leia helped him up. "That's the second time I've hurt my head today."

"Stop acting like a baby and let's go," Leia said with a hint of teasing in her tone as she ran towards the lift.

"Wait a minute," Luke said grabbing a random officer. "Put these uniforms on over your clothes."

"Yeah right. Have you noticed how short we are?"

"Leia," Luke said sighing as her put on a pair of pants on over his clothes.

When they were dressed, helmets and all, Leia laughed. "I'm glad you never got a chance to go to that Imperial academy. You would have looked silly in one of these."

"Ha, ha," Luke said trying to hold back a smile all the while. She was right.

They took the lift all the way down and ended up in the hanger.

_Act natural, _Luke said.

_Natural for us is causing havoc,_ Leia pointed out.

_Well act like an imperial officer, _Luke amended. _You get the point._

They started to go to the _Queen Amidala_ but then they saw the ship surrounded by storm troopers and exchanged a look. It was what they did anyway.

They made their way past the troopers and up the ramp toward the cockpit. They stopped in the doorway where an adult wookie was leaned over in the pilot's seat, apparently injured. Han was standing there with Commander Nyklas.

_Bastard,_ Leia said starting to walk forward with the intention of shooting both imperials, but Luke stopped her. Something was happening. He could feel it, and if Leia stopped focusing on her emotions for a moment, she would too.

"Filthy animal," Nyklas said jugging the wookie with his gun. "I'm glad you didn't shoot him down. I want you to skin him alive instead."

Leia started forward, but Luke grabbed her and shook his head.

_Leia, just wait a minute. I have a feeling about Han._

Leia scowled and made sure Luke knew she wasn't pleased with standing there, but put her blaster back down at her side.

There was a long pause as Han seemed to have an inner debate with himself before letting out a long breath.

"No sir," he said standing boldly and bravely despite his nervousness.

Leia's mouth dropped in shock. She had never met or seen an Imperial officer who defied his superior.

"What did you say Solo?"

"I said, no sir," Han said a bit firmer.

"You do know you just blatantly disobeyed your commander right?" Nyklas said put his face in Han's.

"Yes sir!"

"And you know the consequences?"

Han sighed. He could change his mind right then and there, but he didn't. Skinning someone was against the things he believed in. He thought he could join the imperial army and avoid these cruelties, but he guessed not.

"And I accept them sir," Han replied. He was throwing a lot away.

"Why you-?"

"And that's our cue to intervene," Luke said not needing to hear anymore as he shot Nyklas in the back. He fell to the ground, blood pouring out of his mouth. Han had to step back to avoid the man falling on him.

"Luke," Leia said shocked. "Even I wasn't going to kill him outright."

"Scum like him don't deserve our time and though I would have liked more than anything to give him the most slow and painful death I could think of, we don't have time," Luke said in a dark tone.

Leia was stunned. This was so unlike Luke. Then she remembered Nyklas' obvious advances toward her and the understanding came. Luke was getting Nyklas for more than just the Wookie.

The Wookie slowly sat up from where he was lying and growled something to Han who looked at Luke and Leia.

"What's he saying?"

Luke and Leia didn't understand the growls, but they felt the gratitude coming off the Wookie.

"He's saying thank you," Leia replied. "Now come on big guy. We got to get out of here."

"Han," Luke said. "You go get the other wookies. Leia-."

"Wait just a minute kid! I didn't say anything about helping you two!"

Leia rolled her eyes and put her blaster to Han's chest.

"Listen scoundrel, me and Luke have warrants in at least five systems and we didn't get them because we sympathize with the imperial cause. Now if imperial life is what you want, you'll die a hero for them right now, but if you really want to do some good, you'll help us get these wookies out of here. Now either put up or shut up," Leia warned and Han looked at her, stunned that he had just been told off by a girl that was at least eight or nine years younger.

"I don't know who you think you're talking to princess but I-."

Luke put Leia's hand down and then looked at Han.

"Do you really have a choice now?" he said with a wry look.

Han seemed to debate for a moment and then sighed. "Fine. I'll go get the other little guys."

"Now we just have to get past those troopers," Luke said.

Leia grinned as she went to the back of the ship and then came back tossing a thermal detonator up and down in her hands.

"Explosives anyone?"

A few minutes later, Luke ran down the ramp still dressed in imperial garb and told the troopers, "We need back up in here. The wookies have gone rabid."

As the troopers stormed up the ramp and through the ship, Han and Leia got the wookies out through a secret door at the back of the shuttle.

"Hurry up," Han said as the adult wookie jumped down and started to make a triumphant growl.

"No," Leia said wincing as part of the growl got out. The wookie growled an apology and Luke led them across the hanger to their ship. Behind them, the shuttle exploded and the officers on the patrol over the hanger began to shout at them.

"Alright," Han said loudly as they got to the ship. "Hurry it up people."

The wookies rushed up the ramp and Han, Luke and Leia followed behind them.

"Leia, turn Threepio and Artoo back on," Luke yelled. "See if they're okay."

Luke and Han ran to the cockpit and when Han tried to take lead, Luke pushed him over.

"This is my ship," Luke reminded getting the ship started.

"You sure you can outrun that tractor beam kid? You would need someone with a little experience for that," Han replied.

"Me and Leia took care of that. And for your information, I've got enough experience outrunning imperial officers in the last two years," Luke said pulling out of the hanger and racing away from the star destroyer.

"Oh my. Miss Leia," Threepio's voice said as Leia came back into the cockpit. "What's going on?"

"Don't worry about it Threepio. We don't want to worry your copper head," Leia replied. "Artoo, check for trackers."

Artoo beeped in the affirmative and plugged into the computer.

"Where we headed kid?" Han asked.

"Leia, do you remember where wookies come from?"

"Kashyyyk," Leia replied.

"Good," Luke muttered. "Away from the core."

Luke plugged in the coordinates and Han sighed. "There is a faster route to get there kid."

"And when you're piloting your own ship, you're welcome to use that route," Leia snapped before Luke could ask what it was.

Luke decided to keep on the decided path and made the jump to hyperspace. Leia fell down in her seat and Han leaned back in the co-pilot's chair.

"Everyone okay?" Luke asked.

Threepio spoke first. "If you don't mind me asking Master Luke. What's going on? And who is that man?"

"Threepio, Han. Han, Threepio," Luke introduced and then turned to Artoo. "Artoo, Han."

A roar from behind them startled everyone and they turned to see the adult wookie.

"What's the walking carpet's name?" Leia asked.

The wookie growled something and Threepio translated, "He says it's Chewbacca and that he owes all of you for saving his life back there."

Han shrugged. "It wasn't a big deal."

"Yes it was," Leia said surprising Luke. She rarely gave people credit, even when it was due. Leia sensed his surprise and hesitated before continuing. "You threw away a lot to help him and help us in a way. I… We appreciate it. I haven't seen that kind of kindness and devotion to a stranger since I met Luke. Thank you."

Luke was dumbstruck. For Leia to thank someone and actually be nice instead of giving off snarky sarcastic comments, it meant there had to be something worthwhile about the person. She usually didn't trust or thank anyone, even when they did great good. Luke was usually the one who said the thanks and reprimanded her for being a little mean despite the fact that she had a good heart.

Leia whipped around, but not before Luke felt her embarrassment and shyness. He smiled. This was going to get interesting…

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Who knew wookies were so hospitable," Han said. "I think one of my ribs is broken from one of their hugs," he added as he followed Luke and Leia back to their ship. All three of them were lugging huge sacks of meat and herbs. They were gifts of gratitude from the wookies.

"That's it," Leia replied scrunching up her nose at the smell. "I'm a vegetarian now."

"So where are we going next guys?" Luke asked.

"Master Luke, I know a droids thoughts don't really count as an opinion but I'm all for the vacation on Drall," Threepio said hopefully.

Artoo beeped a response and Threepio replied dryly, "Having adventures and almost getting killed is not my idea of fun Artoo."

"How about it Han? Want to take a vacation with us?" Luke asked with a smile.

Han let out a sarcastic laugh. "Whoever said I was joining you two on your wild dangerous ride you call a life?"

Leia raised her eyebrow. "Well you've got nowhere else to go."

Han didn't refute the comment as they got to the ship. They were just starting up the ramp when a loud roar caught their attention. They turned around to see Chewbacca, or Chewie as Han had dubbed him, running to catch up with them.

"Hey Chewie," Luke greeted. "Come to see us off?"

Chewie shook his head and growled something. The three humans looked at Threepio for translation.

"He says he owes you a life debt Mr. Solo. He insists that he comes with us."

"Hey," Han said a little uncomfortable with the idea of a wookie following him everywhere. "You don't have to do that."

Chewie growled something else and Threepio said, "Wookies take their life debts very seriously sir and he refuses to part from your side until he properly pays for it."

Han started to protest again when Luke said with a shrug, "It's alright with me. What do you say Leia?"

Leia smiled. "He makes a good bodyguard, so I'm not protesting."

"Hey," Han said following the two up the ramp. "Doesn't my opinion count here?"

"Not really," Luke replied.

"Yeah, we're dropping you off on the nearest planet on the way anyhow since you don't want to come with us," Leia replied earning a glare from Han.

"Now hold on just a minute princess," he said following her. Luke sighed and turned to Chewie.

"We're never going to be able to get any peace and quiet on this ship anymore with those two," Luke said dryly. Chewie nodded in agreement.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_In the next chapter, with nothing to do a year later, Luke and Leia head to Cloud city with Han and Chewie to visit an old friend named Lando, who they helped win an annual sabacc tournament and win a mining facility. The tournament has come back around again and when Han finds out Lando is putting up for bet exactly the kind of ship he's been looking for. He tries to convince Luke and Leia to put something up for him to enter the tournament with, but Luke and Leia know that a tournament like that is based solely on luck and since Leia doesn't believe in the game anyway, they decide Han's going to have to miss out on that ship. But Han is determined to have the Falcon, even if he has to go behind Luke and Leia's back and risk Leia coming after him with her blaster to do it._

AN: Talk about another long chapter. I always knew from the beginning they were going to meet Han and Chewie even though the timing for it is off in this story since it actually happened in 5BBY while this chapter is 4BBY. I thought it would also be funny to see how Han interacted with a, in my opinion, bossier, less tactful, and more opinionated Leia. Hope you enjoyed. Review Please!


	8. Empathy

I tell you. What a weekend! I went three and a half days without internet. So about this chapter... It isn't the one I advertised at the end of the last one and with good reason. Halfway through chapter nine, which is now chapter ten, Luke and Leia were talking and mentioned this adventure and so I thought, why not expound on that... So I'm going to fix the summary at the end of the last one and it will be the summary for the next chapter. Got it? Okay... Read, enjoy, and review!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**Chapter Eight**

**Empathy  
**

"What are we here for again?" Leia asked Luke and Han.

"We need to refuel princess, and we need more supplies," Han replied and rolled his eyes. "You should know that. You help run the ship."

"I know that scoundrel," Leia snapped. "But we usually go to some back water planet to do all that. This place is pretty nice."

It had been nearly a three weeks since Luke and Leia invited and Han and Chewbacca with them. They had spent two weeks on Drall, two weeks in which they found out about Han's womanizing tendencies. It was certainly different having a halfway responsible adult with them. Han was ten years older than Luke and Leia and they still hadn't really adjusted to it. Because it was their ship, and they had invited Han for the ride, Luke and Leia naturally wanted to set some ground rules and tell Han how they did things. But Han didn't take too keenly to being bossed and Luke understood that. He wasn't too keen about listening to people who were older than him, let alone younger. But Leia wouldn't have it and therefore, Leia and Han fought all the time over one thing or another. There hadn't been a moment of peace on the ship as long as both were awake. Luke was thankful when they found a planet to refuel on. The two seemed to get along better when they weren't so confined.

Han started to reply to Leia's comment, and Luke had no doubt it was the beginning of another argument. So Luke answered instead.

"Yeah I know. I was doing a little research about this planet. It's far enough from the empire," Luke replied as the waiter brought their food.

"Stang. You kids can really eat," Han said looking at the array of food.

"So what are you planning Han?" Leia asked pulling a burger and fries to her.

"What do you mean?" Han asked eying Leia with an odd expression.

Leia rolled her eyes not noticing how he was looking at her. "You know what we mean. You made it clear you didn't want to stay with us. Where do you want us to drop you and Chewie off?"

"Where ever I go, you all can keep the big guy. I'm not too keen on him following me everywhere I go," Han replied.

Chewie made a stubborn reply and Threepio started to translate, but Han, who had picked up the Wookie language rather quickly, didn't need it.

"I aint saying I don't like you or anything. I'm just saying saving you was no big deal. I would have done the same thing for anyone else, no matter what species it was," Han admitted.

Chewie growled a response, and this time Han couldn't understand it and asked Threepio.

"He says that's the point sir," Threepio said. "The fact that you would have done it for anyone else makes the life debt all the more serious."

Luke looked at Chewie and said," Don't worry. If he doesn't want you to stick around, you can stay with us or we'll take you back to Kashyyyk."

"He still hasn't told us what he's going to do," Leia pointed out.

"Why are you so concerned princess?" Han asked.

"I'm not," Leia said with a careless shrug. "But me and Luke can't have you slowing us down because you're indecisive about you future."

Luke coughed to hide his laugh. Leia was a good liar. That was for sure. But she couldn't hide anything from him, and her lie was obvious through their connection. She didn't realize it quite yet, probably wouldn't until he pointed it out to her, but it seemed she had a small crush on the older man.

Han looked like he was going to make a snide, sarcastic remark in response, but instead he shrugged and said, "Not much I can do without my own ship. Settling down is pretty much out the question since I'm sure the empire is looking for me now."

"In that case," Luke said. "Your best bet is sticking with us for a while. Not only have we been running from the empire for the last two years, but you won't believe the kind of money people pay us to do jobs most sane bounty hunters, smugglers, and assassins won'y touch."

Han laughed. "You know, I used to take you two a lot more seriously before I found out you were two harmless fifteen year olds than kids. It makes me wonder if half the things people said you've done are true."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Leia snapped. "We don't make things up,"

"Not saying you do, but you won't believe some of the wild stories going around about you two in the military," Han pointed out.

Chewie growled his own comment and Threepio said, "According to him, there were many rumors about you two on his home planet as well, including one that you were both ancient spiritual gods trapped in a physical form."

"Why would they say that?" Luke said trying to stop himself from laughing.

"It's obvious Luke," Leia said. "Our force powers. A lot of cultures probably think we're spirits or children of gods."

"Yeah. That one made it into the imperial army rumor mill," Han confirmed. "That along with the one that you two were thirty-something year old escaped convicts with a rare case of dwarfism wrecking havoc on the empire as revenge for wrongly imprisoning you."

"We don't do anything for revenge really. The empire has done nothing to us except they may have killed off our parents for being jedi, but we can't really miss people we didn't know," Leia said now picking on a plate of stir fried vegetables.

Han seemed a little shocked at Leia's careless attitude about the matter. But Luke knew more than anything, she wanted to know more about her mother if only for the fact that the woman had left her the most prized possession she had. However, she hadn't lied when she said she wasn't really angry at the empire about it and Luke couldn't blame her. People had done far worse things to her.

"Wait a minute," Han said thoughtfully. "Your parents were jedi? Jedi didn't have children as far as I know."

"They weren't exactly celibate either according to what we've heard," Luke replied. "We don't really know. Just speculating since we have the same powers the jedi used to have."

"Is that those force powers?" Han said skeptically. "I always thought that was a bunch of magic tricks and showing off. I've seen a lot of strange things, but nothing that made me think that a higher power was giving certain people strange magic abilities kid."

Leia glared now pulling a salad toward her but didn't reply. As she picked up her fork, Han grabbed her hand to stay it in place. Luke immediately put his hand on the girl's shoulder feeling her sudden alertness and panic.

_Leia calm down. He's not trying to do anything to you._

Leia stiffly pulled her hand out of Han's grasp and snapped, "What?"

"I been watching you since we got here sister and in the last thirty minutes, you've gobbled down a burger, fries, a plate of vegetables, two sodas, a chip and dip appetizer, and now you're on the salad. Do you always eat that much?"

Luke groaned. And here went Leia's good mood. She was silent as she pushed the salad back, hooked her blaster back on her belt, and stormed out the restaurant.

"What's her problem?" Han asked. "I just asked a question. Nothing wrong with packing down more food than Chewie probably can in one sitting."

Luke glared at Han. "Really Han," he said and left the money for the meal and followed behind Leia.

Han stared after them confused before turning to Chewie and the droids saying, "Those two have mood swings that rival Darth Vader's. I thought that guy was the only one who could have mood swings like that."

Chewie growled a response.

"Nah. I wouldn't wish that on anyone. Looks like they have enough problems without adding that one to it," Han replied.

Artoo rolled over to Han beeped a reply.

"Go after them? As far as I can tell, it looks like those two kids rather not have me around. We've really done nothing but argue and rub each other wrong since I got here."

Artoo whistled angrily and Han looked to Threepio for a translation.

"He thinks you should apologize sir and I must agree. Master Luke does seem to like you, but Miss Leia can easily persuade him otherwise if she feels threatened enough by you."

"Apologize?" Han said in disbelief. "But what did I do?"

Chewie growled a response and Han winced.

"Maybe I could try to be a little less sarcastic," Han agreed. "Dang. I've never seen two kids so close before, even siblings."

Luke found Leia sitting in front of a small shop with her arms crossed and a perturbed look in her eyes. Luke sighed.

"Come on Leia. You know he didn't mean anything by it. I'm sure if he knew, he wouldn't have even said anything," Luke pointed out.

"Knew about what?" Leia asked.

"Your past," Luke said staring ahead of him. "Our past."

"I prefer no one besides you did," Leia snapped and Luke rolled his eyes.

"Come on Leia. Be logical about this. Maybe the two of you would get along better if he knew a little bit more. Han is going to be with us for a while by the looks of it and we can't just leave him in the dark the whole time. That'll just be more tension between us. Besides, Han is going to be an important part in our lives one day," Luke said staring ahead.

"What makes you say that?"

"I can feel it," Luke said and then turned to Leia. "And you would too if you weren't so distrustful and wary of people. It clouds your senses."

"Your trust and acceptance of people clouds yours," Leia pointed out.

Luke laughed. "There's no way to do that with Han. He looks like and acts like a scoundrel. That's a red flag."

Leia laughed. "Yeah you're right about that."

"Come on," Luke said standing up. "Let's go find some ice cream. It's your favorite."

Leia shook her head. "I'm kind of glad Han did stop me. I'm not feeling too well all of a sudden."

Leia stood up rubbing her stomach and Luke grinned. "I told you one day all that eating was going to make you-."

Luke cut himself off as he felt a abrupt change in Leia's force presence. He reached out and caught her just before she fell.

"Leia," he asked in panic shaking her to try to wake her up. "Leia."

"Hey kid, princess," Han shouted. "There you are. I've been-. What happened to her?"

"I don't know. She just fell out," Luke said touching her mind with his. "Something's wrong."

"Stop panicking kid. There has to be a hospital or something around here. Let's find it and get her there," Han said as he helped Luke pick her up.

Artoo beeped something and Luke nodded before turning to Han.

"Artoo said according to his scans there's a hospital nearby… North of here. Come on," Luke said and took off running with Leia in his arms.

Han blinked and then took off after him. "Stang. Where did the kid learn to run so kriffing fast? I've never seen anyone run that fast. Kid! Wait up."

Han finally did catch up to Luke at the hospital, where was running ahead of everyone in line to get to the front desk, ignoring or glaring at anyone that got in his way. Han ran ahead with him along with Chewie, Artoo, and a frantic Threepio muttering about how Miss Leia was going to die.

"Hey. Get in the back of the line. We all need care," someone shouted to them. Luke was doing a pretty good job of ignoring them, but the shouts were getting on Han's nerve, and apparently, it was bothering Chewie too because he growled loudly startling everyone into silence.

"Yeah that's right," Han shouted. "Anyone got any complaints talk to the wookie."

Han turned to Chewie and patter him on the back. "That's buddy."

Han turned to where Luke was talking to the nurse, growing more irritated by the second.

"Listen," Luke was saying. "I don't really give bantha pooda about signing some kriffing papers. I'll take care of that later. But my sister just fell out and she needs some help."

"All the people here need some help with one thing or another and they're in line or sitting down waiting and signing the proper forms. Now young man-." the nurse said.

Han stepped in. "Now hold on a minute lady. We aint got no time to sit down. Our friend here just suddenly fell out and I think that warrants some immediate help around her."

"Go sign these," the woman said holding out a clipboard and papers. "And-."

"You listen here sister-." Han stopped in confusion as the woman began to claw at her neck.

"Listen you," Luke was saying holding out his hand like he was gripping someone's neck. "My sister needs help and if you value your life and everyone else's lives in the place, you better admit her and get her a doctor quick or I'll raise so much hell in this place you'll wish Darth Vader had paid you a visit instead."

Luke let go and the woman fell behind the desk gasping for breath.

"And don't even think about pressing that button to call security," Luke added sensing the woman's intention. She glared at him but reached for the com and called for a medical capsule and a doctor asap.

"Now that wasn't so difficult was it," Luke asked.

Han couldn't even remember to walk by the time the medical team came and whisked Leia to the back, and it took Chewie nudging him in the back to remind him to do so. That move was so shockingly familiar it was uncanny. He heard Darth Vader liked to pull stunts like that to get people moving from some of the officers and he could do it without laying a finger on the person, just like Luke. If Han didn't know any better, and to tell the truth he really didn't, he would have thought Luke was somehow related to Darth Vader and what was that thing with his eyes turning yellow?

When the doctor came into Leia's room, he took one look at them and asked that they leave. Han looked to Luke for his cue and when he didn't see the kid leave, he and Chewie decided not to either.

"I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what's going on. You know something and you don't want to tell me," Luke said with his arms crossed impatiently.

"I have to check her first," the Mon calamari doctor said.

"I'm might be a teenager, but I'm not stupid," Luke snapped. "I came in here and your whole lobby is full, not to mention there's a line almost outside in the emergency rooms. People are laying down outside on stretchers because they don't have rooms to be placed in and I doubt my sister would have gotten one if I hadn't taken matters into my own hands. Now what's going on and you better not lie or I'll kill you and find someone who will tell me."

Han reminded himself never to get on Luke's bad side because he never wanted to be on the receiving end of that. Han knew people. And he knew when they weren't playing around. Luke meant every word of what he was saying and Han dearly hoped that the doctor knew it too for his own sake.

The doctor sighed. "There's an epidemic going around. Has been going around for weeks. The whole planet's infested and it's only a matter of time before the who population begins to see the effects of it."

"How did she catch it? We haven't been here long enough for her to catch it from someone," Luke pointed out.

"The virus is airborne and there's no cure for it. We requested help from the empire a few weeks ago. They have a science lab not too far from here and their working as fast as they can to come up with a cure but so far…"

Luke raised his eyebrows. "The empire was already here?"

"Yes."

"For how long?" Luke asked.

"A few months," the doctor said.

"How long has the virus been loose?"

"A few weeks now. It started here, but it's quickly spreading around the planet."

"And when did you request help from the empire?" Luke asked.

"As soon as I discovered the virus. That was a couple of days after the first case," the doctor said. "Why do you want to know all this?"

Luke didn't reply. Instead he began to speak out loud in huttese and pace the room. But Han and the doctor didn't know this. All they knew was that it wasn't in basic.

"I'm sure you're a busy man. We'll take it from here if there's nothing you can do," Han said intending to talk to Luke.

"Hold on a minute," Luke said stopping the doctor from leaving the room. "Has there been any big… I don't know discovery recently. Why did the scientist come here in the first place?"

"They came to study one of our planet's most common precious stones," the doctor said and the pulled something out his pocket. "My daughter is very fond of them. They think it's an undiscovered mineral or something."

Luke took the necklace from him, lined with shiny yellow-orange jewels. As soon as Luke touched them, he could feel the energy pulsing through the jewels with the force… Energy Luke bet could be channeled somehow.

"And just how common are they again?" Luke asked.

"You can find them anywhere on the planet," the doctor replied. "What does this have to so with…"

"That will be all," Luke said handing him the necklace. "You can go about your business now."

The doctor wisely left the room. Han shook his head. He wondered if the kid knew how much he looked like a pensive Darth Vader right then.

"Hey Luk," Han said carefully lest Luke choke him. "Have you ever met Darth Vader or been in his company for a long time?"

"If I had I don't think I'd be here right now," Luke said laughing. "That guy has been searching for me and Leia for years now. We've been wrecking havoc on the empire for a while."

"You sure that's all kid. You all aint secretly related to the guy or something and not telling me?"

Luke laughed. "The likeliness of that happening is about the same as me and Leia being long lost twins that were separated at birth so the emperor wouldn't find us or something just as ridiculous."

"I guess so," Han replied dryly and then realized something. "Wait a minute. You and Leia aren't really related. She's not your sister?"

Luke winced. Sith… He wasn't supposed to say that.

"Come on. We've got to find that imperial laboratory. Something about this too coincidental. After a few weeks, the empire should have come up with a cure and then some," Luke said hoping to steer Han away from his slip up.

"I wasn't born yesterday kid. I know what you're trying to do. We're going to get back to this, but what the kriff do you mean you're going to find that laboratory. Are you nuts? We just escaped from the empire," Han said incredulously.

"Then you should have stayed back on Drall and I'm suddenly wishing you had if this is how you're going to act about it. This is what me and Leia do all the time and the fact that it's gotten Leia sick is just added motivation," Luke said taking Leia's blaster from her belt and a few other weapons including thermal detonators.

"Let's be rational about this kid," Han said.

"Be rational how," Luke challenged looking up at the taller Han not intimidated. In fact, it was the other way around. Han took a step back, just in case Luke decided to choke him into submission too.

"What am I supposed to do? Let her die?" Luke asked.

"I'm not saying that kid," Han said deciding to do damage control.

"Then what did you mean because unless we go find out what's going on, that's what's going to happen. Maybe Leia was right about you. Maybe you are a-."

"Luke,"

Luke immediately stopped his tirade and went to Leia's side. Han let out a long breath. He owed the girl a million times over for that one.

"Leia," Luke said softly to her running his hands through the girl's brown hair.

"What happened? Why am I in a bed?" she asked trying to look around.

"Stop moving. You're just really tired and the doctor wants you to rest."

Leia smiled. "You're lying. We're linked. Remember?"

Luke laughed and kissed her on the forehead. "Well I want you to rest. Everything will be fine. I'll make sure of it. Go back to sleep."

Leia nodded closing her eyes. As Han watched the display, he wondered what kind of relationship Luke and Leia had if they weren't really siblings. Luke turned to him with his arms crossed, and Han rubbed his neck unconsciously.

Luke rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to hurt you Han, not so long as you don't get in my way. I don't listen too much to adults. So don't think because you are one you can hang that over my head? You don't have to come with me, but you're not going to stop me either. Stay here with Leia."

With that Luke walked out the room and Han sat there in awe trying to nurse his severely wounded ego. First Leia had told him off when they first met and now Luke. But at least Leia usually stood there and gave him the chance to retort hotly. Luke just brushed him off like he was a flea and walked away.

He cursed under his breath. "Stupid kids. Never seen two people so damn close. Looks like I'm not going to be stopping him."

"Oh please sir," Threepio suddenly said. "You have to go with him. Master Luke has a knack for getting into trouble and impossible situations. You have to go after him."

"That's his own fault," Han said.

Artoo made a series of beeps and whistles to Han before rolling out the door and rushing after Luke.

"Hey where are you going?" Han asked.

Chewie growled something at him, and Han shook his head.

"Hey. Don't pull this guilt trip thing on me. I didn't ask for any of this."

Chewie responded and Han sat down to make his point.

"Nope. Doesn't bother my conscience at all. I'm going to sleep just fine tonight," Han said crossing his legs.

"Where did Luke go?" Leia muttered with her eyes still closed.

Han jumped at her sudden question and then asked, "How do you know he went somewhere princess?"

"I can't feel his presence nearby anymore. Is he coming back?"

Han exchanged a look with Chewie, and then the man stood up cursing obscenely in his head.

"Stay here and watch her," Han said to Chewie and then said to Leia. "I'll go get him right now. I promise he didn't go far."

Han headed out to catch up with Luke. "Damn kids. I should have stayed back with the empire and let then discharge me."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

This wasn't right and Darth Vader knew it. He paced about in the control room as he monitored the scientists, who were being held in a cell in the laboratory waiting to be executed.

Vader had done many unspeakable things, but he had never engineered the mass genocide of an entire planet before. However, the emperor ordered it. While the mineral they needed was very common on the planet, it was very rare in the rest of the galaxy. It could only be found on a handful of planets in the empire, many of them near the core. So the emperor saw the perfect opportunity when they discovered on a little known outer rim planet that very abundant in it.

The emperor had ordered that they set up a laboratory and engineer an airborne virus for a massive worldwide genocide. Then they would release the tightly secured cure when it was too late, before working to extract all of the energy mineral they could find on the planet. It was needed to help power the laser fire of the Death star, a monstrosity in Vader's opinion. Trillions of credits wasted when if the emperor had let him perfect the design, they could have saved trillions of dollars and wasted time trying to build something from a flawed design.

He sighed. The virus had been released a few weeks ago, and it was all going according to the emperor's plan. The cure would be released when it was too late and most of the world's population was dead… This was wrong. All the people he had killed in his life was for good reason (in his opinion) and they were far from innocent even the jedi. But to wipe out an entire planet of innocent civilians was something Vader didn't condone. But what could he do? Surely the emperor would know if he released the cure too soon. He would be punished and then the emperor would proceed according to plan.

"Lord Vader," a security officer said. "There are intruders on the premises."

Vader went over to the monitors and saw a brown haired boy scouting the facility along the perimeter along with an older brown haired man. Vader recognized the child immediately. He had been searching for him two years, but curiously, the girl was not with them.

"We'll have them apprehended immediately."

"Wait," Vader said holding out his hand. He could stop this genocide and the backlash that the empire would surely receive when the public found out. The emperor was foolish to think it wouldn't get out. But if he let the child sabotage the facility and find the cure… Yes. That would work. Perhaps the children wrecking havoc for the empire would suit his plans this time.

Vader turned to the officer. "I will handle this."

Vader made his way out, but not before using the force to mess up the monitors. All of them went fussy and the technicians scrambled to solve the problem to no avail. This would buy him and that child some time.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"So tell me again how we're going to get in here?" Han asked holding a blaster as they looked at the tall gates surrounding the facility, that were no doubt set to electrocute anyone who touched the wire.

"I never did tell you," Luke said. "Just follow my lead."

"What lead?" Han asked.

Luke didn't answer but suddenly he was running toward the wire fence as a brown and tan blur. Just when Han thought the boy was going to run right into the fence, he leapt into the air and straight over the fence. Han sat flabbergasted. The fence was at least eight feet tall. No one could jump that high.

Then the storm troopers rushed to Luke. One was suddenly lifted into the air and slammed flung at two of the troopers. Luke then turned to his left and open fired on the others. Han started to shout a warning but Luke reached his hand out behind him and an invisible force threw the troopers back into the electrocuted fence.

With all the troopers down, Luke ran to the control for the gate and opened it to let Han in.

"Come on!" he urged.

Han and Artoo raced through the gate.

"Alright kid. That's it. You're going to tell me exactly what the heck is going on. How did you do that? How-?"

"Duck," Luke said calmly.

"Duck? What the kriff do you mean?"

Artoo knocked Han out the way and Luke ducked. Then with the deadly accuracy of an assassin shot the officer in the watch tower.

"Let's go Han," Luke said running into the facility, Artoo right next to him.

From the top of the building Darth Vader watched and to say he was mildly impressed was an understatement. No wonder he had never been able to fully catch up with the children. That level of skill was the likes of a jedi padawan that had been training for two or three years. But Vader could feel in the force that the child was nowhere near his feel potential and… he hadn't been formally trained.

Vader had underestimated the children.

"Not now Han," Luke said as they leaned on the wall, looked around the corner and then ran down it.

"Sith yes now!" Han explained. "Now you and Leia have done some weird things in the last couple of weeks and I aint asked about it. But you're going to tell me right now or I aint going to shut up about it. How the heck am I supposed to travel with you and I don't know at least part of the story? I was ten years old when the jedi were killed, so I remember a little bit, and you were back there moving like Anakin Skywalker or General Kenobi or something."

Luke sighed. "Fine. Remember when me and Leia were talking about how we thing we may be the children of jedi?"

"Yeah."

"That back there was why. We can't really control it. And it's rare I can pull something off like that," Luke said.

"Then how did you do it?"

"Me and Leia can do those kind of thing when we're feeling strong emotion or panic. As long as we're determined and motivated enough, we can pull off a lot. That's how we've escaped the empire for so long."

"Okay. Now that I know that, why are you and Leia so secretive about your past? You two talk about things and I'm left wondering what the hell you're talking about."

Luke sighed. Leia didn't want anyone to know but he could be vague about it.

"Leia's had a hard life. That's why sometimes things you say or do bother her. The food thing… She can't help it. She used to have to eat what she could get and fast before someone took it from her , not to mention she never knew when her next meal was coming. Sometimes she still thinks like she's in that survival mode. I'm the only one Leia trust. When I met her… I don't know. We just clicked. It was like were meant to find each other," Luke explained.

"And you're on the run because…"

Luke looked down and then said, "We did something… But we had no choice," Luke added quickly. "Leia would have gotten in trouble and I couldn't just abandon her…"

"So you and Leia aren't really related."

"It's our cover. We're just really close," Luke said softly as they ran to the elevator. It needed a code.

"Artoo, open the door."

Artoo plugged into the wall and Han kept talking.

"So you two are in a relationship then?" he asked.

Luke shook his head as he shuffled impatiently and tensely while waiting for Artoo.

"No. We're just friends," Luke replied.

Han gaped at him. "I don't believe you."

"Why not?" Luke said as Artoo got the elevator open.

"Because no one whose not related and not in a relationship are that close. I've seen a bit of the galaxy Luke. I know."

"Well apparently you don't because it's nothing like that," Luke said pressing the down button on the elevator.

"Well-. Hold on a minute. How long have you two known each other?"

"Five years," Luke said irritated. Now Han was starting to get on his nerve.

"And you mean you two have a completely innocent relationship?"

Luke nodded. "Nothing other than Leia's occasional flirting."

"No kisses, no groping, no experimenting with-."

Luke turned his blaster on Han. "Don't even finish that."

"Hey. No need to get all psycho on me kid. But I remember what it's like to be fifteen and if you put me alone on a ship all the time with a girl as pretty as Leia, not to say I think of Leia that way, well… You get my groove."

Luke admired the man's honesty. It had been a while since Luke had spoken to and been able to relax around another male. Usually he was worried about how Leia would feel around them or if they were eying her in a way they shouldn't be. But Luke liked Han. He lightened their situation. It made him not as tense.

"It's not like that with me and Leia. We're close, but… It's not that I've never tossed the thought around in my mind or anything. But it just feels wrong," Luke said shrugging. It felt good to talk about these kinds of things with someone.

"And you're not gay?" Han asked to be certain.

Luke rolled his eyes. "No Han. Neither is Leia."

Han sighed before finally saying, "I can't say I understand how you feel kid, but if that's what you say, I accept it. I aint gone hassle you about it."

Luke grinned. Maybe Han would be alright to have around.

"Now can you tell me why we're in the detention bay?"

"I don't know," Luke said. "A feeling I guess."

"You mean you're acting on feelings here?"

"I always have," Luke replied.

"Me too," Han said. "It's a wonder we aren't dead yet."

Han shot the man guarding the detention area and Luke walked down the tunnels, passing cell after cell until finally he stopped at one. He shot the security pad and then ducked as the shot rocketed through the tunnels.

"Stand kid," Han said. "That was my plan too. Now what?"

Luke sighed. "Overriding these things is usually Leia's thing. But I bet if I messed with the wires…"

Luke took off the panel and then began to reroute the wiring. A few seconds later, the door slid open. Han reminded himself to ask Luke to show him that later. It might be a useful little trick to know.

The door opened to reveal a group of people in lab coats sitting and standing in the room.

"Let me guess," Han started sarcastically. "You're the scientists and the empire is somehow wrapped all into this?" The kid had been right.

"You're supposed to be working on a cure. Why are you in here?" Luke asked confused more than anything now as he pointed his blaster.

"There's already a cure. Please don't hurt us. We didn't know what was happening," a Nemodian scientist said.

"Keep talking," Han said joining Luke in pointing the blaster.

"They only asked us to engineer a devastating virus. We didn't know what it was for. We thought it was experimental. Then we found out they wanted to kill off everyone on the planet to mine the rare Fire jewel."

"It aint so rare doc. I just saw a guy who had a necklace made out of the stuff… We are talking about a yellowish orange stone, aren't we?" Han added.

The doctor nodded.

"Good. Just making sure we're on the same page here," Han said more so to Luke than the scientist.

"Why does the empire want it?" Luke asked.

"We don't know. The stone has some kind of energy inside it, something like electricity but much more powerful. They wanted to use it for some super weapon," the man said.

Luke gasped. "The Death Star," he muttered.

"What?" Han and the doctor asked.

Luke shook his head. "Nothing. So they're going to wipe out the entire planet's population?"

"By the time we found out. It was too late. They took the cure for it, locked it up and released the virus into the air."

"So you did find the cure? Where is it?" Luke asked frantically.

"We don't know. They locked us up and decided to have us executed."

"Stang," Luke muttered and then turned to Artoo. "Go plug up to the computer up there and find out where they're storing the cure for this virus."

"What do we do with them?" Han asked.

Luke shrugged. "Don't really care. They can leave if they want to."

Artoo meanwhile was beeping at them furiously to Luke.

"It's on the last floor. Great," Luke said rushing into the elevator and taking it up to the last floor without waiting for Han and Artoo.

"Wait a minute kid," Han yelled. "You didn't even let Artoo finish telling you where on the last floor."

Artoo beeped something dryly and Han got the basic understanding of what he meant.

"So he's like this all the time when you're on your missions huh? Leia's the more rational one and thinks things through?"

Artoo swirled his dome around and whistled a joking reply.

"She comes up with the game plan but they're hardly rational? How did you ever adjust to this?"

Artoo lowered his one eye and whistled a slow reply.

"You're used to it. Your owner before Luke was like him?" Artoo nodded. "I don't think I'll ever get used to it. Even I'm not that bad."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Luke wished he had waited for Artoo to tell him exactly where the cure was being kept. There were many turns in these hallways and Luke understood why the cure was kept up her. He came to the end of another hall and an empty room. The added fact that there was no security on it meant it was a dead in anyway, but Luke had to check.

"Damn it. I'll never find it before someone realizes I'm here at this rate," Luke said banging his head on the wall. If he weren't so panicky, he could have trusted his feelings to tell him.

"Okay. Calm down," Luke said leaning his forehead on the wall. "I can do this. Just stop for a minute and trust my feelings."

It was as Luke calmed down that he heard a sound that he hadn't been aware of before. As he listened closer, he was sure it hadn't been there at all and it sounded like it was getting closer.

"That's odd. What's that? I feel like I've heard it before…"

Luke suddenly heard footsteps and looked back down the hall where someone was coming his way.

"Oh sith," Luke said, and oh sith was right. Now he remembered that sound. It was breathing, mechanical breathing.

Luke reached for his blaster and held it up as the man who he and Leia had been trying to avoid for the last two years approached him. When he was in full view Luke began to talk.

"Stay right there," he said shakily. "I'll shoot you. I swear. Darth Vader or not."

Vader almost smiled under his mask. The child was definitely brave, very rash… A little like he had been in his youth.

"That's unnecessary child," he said.

"I wish," Luke muttered as Vader came closer. "I warned you," he said and fired off two shots at Vader.

The man raised his hand and the shot stopped in midair, exploding harmlessly.

Luke almost dropped his blaster. So it was really true. Darth Vader was a force user, and by the looks of it, he was more confident in using it than Luke was. This complicated things…

"I don't care about your powers because I have them too," Luke said instead. "Get out of my way."

"Who taught you how to use the force child?" Vader asked curiously. The boy wasn't an expert. He was clumsy in his use of it but still…

"No one. We just experiment and sometimes we just do it," Luke snapped.

Vader crossed his arms. "Like when you're angry or scared or in a hurry?"

Luke glared and said stubbornly, "I don't have to tell you anything."

"Didn't anyone ever tell you to respect your elders?"

"My parents are dead," Luke pointed out. "And my aunt might have mentioned it but I don't think me and my sister would have survived this long by ourselves if we had been keeping that in mind the whole time, and I doubt that would help me fight you."

Darth Vader almost sighed. The child had a retort for everything. It was almost infuriating.

"I don't want to hurt you child."

"Yeah right," Luke said rolling his eyes. "You're not going to stop me from getting that cure. How dare you decide to kill off an entire planet for your benefits, for a stupid weapon to destroy a whole planet?"

"It wasn't my plan child. I don't agree with this. That's why-." The boy's words finally sank in and Vader said, "You know about the Death Star."

"I have known for years and as soon I get the cure for this virus and destroy this place, we're going to find it and get rid of it," Luke declared.

Vader should have arrested the boy on the spot. The child knew too much. If he connected with the right people all the emperor's work would be ruined. As much as Vader disapproved of it, he had a duty to keep order in the empire and letting this child run off to destroy the Death Star would definitely cause chaos. He and his sister were experts at it. Speaking of the girl…

"Where is your sister? I've never known you two not to be together," he pointed out.

Luke was instantly on guard. "Why do you care?"

The boy was doing a good job of shielding his thoughts, but his emotions were out of control. It was a mixture of anger and fierce protectiveness of the girl, but also impatience, worry, and fear…

"She has the virus doesn't she?" Vader asked and before Luke could say anything he added, "I can feel your worry and panic. You don't want her to die. You have a very strong bond with her. You'd do anything for her wouldn't you?"

"If this is your way of trying to bribe me into letting you capture me in return for saving my sister then you can forget it," Luke growled.

Vader had to admit, the thought had crossed his mind. But he knew what it was like to have feelings for someone be taken advantage of all too well. He wouldn't do that to the boy. Besides, he had to stop this genocide.

"To find the cure for the virus, take this hall all the way down. You'll come to two hallways. Go left and the cure is in a room down the hall. You can't miss it. The door is very obvious. There are some controls in the room, and if you turn them on they will vaporize the cure, releasing it into the planet's atmosphere to destroy the virus and stop its spread. Anyone in the early stages of the sickness need only to inhale it in the atmosphere, and they will be cured. Your sister as well…"

Luke started to say something but Vader cut him off.

"However, if you don't want to risk waiting for her to breathe it in, you can give her, along with anyone else in the latter stages of the sickness, the cure directly into the bloodstream. They will suffer no long lasting side effects."

Luke couldn't believe it. Darth Vader was telling him how to stop the empire from killing off an entire planet. The he remembered Leia's chiding of him.

_You're too trusting and accepting of people._

"Why should I trust you?"

Vader sighed. "I am many things child. And I have killed many people, but with good reason. I don't believe in senseless killing of innocent people… That and I know the pain of fearing for the life of someone you care about…"

Luke was in disbelief. After this he needed some coffee… No, that wouldn't be strong enough. He would have to ask Han for some of that Corellian whiskey he had brought back from Drall.

"I… Thanks," Luke said.

"Don't get me wrong child. I let you go this time, but I will get my hands on you and your sister and when I do…"

Luke grinned. "In your dreams Vader," he said running down the hall.

Vader stared after the boy and cursed. He had meant to ask the child his name. Maybe it was better he hadn't. He turned to leave the place and head for the hanger. No doubt the child intended to destroy this place and based on his track record there would be a lot of explosives and a big fire… or maybe he would cause a flood again, Vader mused.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"There you are kid. Where have you been? You just ran off?" Han said seeing Luke running for the elevator by the time they got to the last floor.

"I got it!" Luke said showing Han a handful of glass vials in his hands. "And I managed to release it into the air to stop the spread."

"Good work kid," Han patting him on the back. "Now let's get out of here."

"Yeah we better. This place is set to shut down and self destruct in about five minutes," Luke replied closing the elevator.

"Five minutes!" Han yelled.

"Give or take a few seconds," Luke added.

"Holy sith kid. Come on. You know this is cutting it close right?" Han asked.

"It always is," Luke said as they ran out the elevator, down the hall and out the building.

"There's a speeder," Han said leaping into the driver's seat. "And it's got the keys. Lucky us huh?

Luke stopped. "This wasn't here before."

"You can contemplate how it got here later kid. Now come on," Han said.

Luke hoisted Artoo into the speeder and jumped inside. Han barely waited for him to get in before taking off. They were long gone from the building when Luke heard the explosions.

"So do you and Leia do this kind of stuff all the time kid?"

Luke nodded pensively.

"Well at least there's never a dull moment."

Luke didn't reply. Instead he looked into the sky and saw a grey imperial shuttle leaving the planet. Luke shook his head. He wouldn't even tell Leia about meeting Darth Vader. Luke himself felt comatose with disbelief over it. Leia would… well it was hard to say.

"Hey Han?" Luke began.

"Yeah kid?"

"You brought some of that Corellian whiskey didn't you?" Luke asked ignoring Han's baffled expression. Luke didn't care. He needed it after that.

xxxxxxxxxxxx

_In the next chapter, with nothing to do a year later, Luke and Leia head to Cloud city with Han and Chewie to visit an old friend named Lando, who they helped win an annual sabacc tournament and win a mining facility. The tournament has come back around again and when Han finds out Lando is putting up for bet exactly the kind of ship he's been looking for. He tries to convince Luke and Leia to put something up for him to enter the tournament with, but Luke and Leia know that a tournament like that is based solely on luck and since Leia doesn't believe in the game anyway, they decide Han's going to have to miss out on that ship. But Han is determined to have the Falcon, even if he has to go behind Luke and Leia's back and risk Leia coming after him with her blaster to do it..._

So what did you think of this one?I thought it did good to really get Han settled and the Darth Vader thing I came up with on a whim which is what I named the chapter for. Hope you enjoyed. Review please!_  
_


	9. Cloud City and Sabacc Tournaments

Alright so here's the next chapter and then after this one I can't wait to post the next two chapter. They're going to be awesome. I was really surprised at the popularity of this story. It's got 44 alerts and 33 favorites. My stats in those two categories were never so high. You make a writer feel real good about herself. Anyway, on with the chapter. Read, enjoy, and review!

xxxxxxxxxxxx

**Chapter Nine**

**Cloud City and Sabacc Tournaments**

Leia and Chewie exchanged a look as Han and Luke argued over how to fly a ship.

"Han," Luke said a little annoyed finally. "I was flying this ship all around the galaxy when I was thirteen and long before I met you. And though I appreciate your skills in flying and I'll admit they have helped me, this is my ship and I'll fly it the way I want to!"

Han groaned. "Whatever kid. No need to get all touchy about it. You just remember one day you're going to need me to fly this thing and you're gonna be darn thankful you let me do it."

Luke tried to scowl but only succeeding in smiling a little at Han's words. Han grinned back and Leia shook her head. Men…

Other than their occasional squabbles, the three got along extremely well despite their age differences, even Chewie. And Luke and Leia had come to find that although Han was tough on the outside, he had a good heart, but he had also gotten them in trouble a few times. He had convinced them to do a little more smuggling on the side of their little escapades, using the justification that if he was part of the family now, he should be able to make some of their calls… They were wanted in four more systems now because of the women he had gotten involved with there, and there was a smuggler princess who had a bounty on his head for tricking her so that Luke and Leia could get the cargo she was guarding. Thankfully, it wasn't too big, but it was big enough for a few encounters with a couple of bounty hunters.

"So where we headed to this time princess?" Han asked.

Leia shrugged. "We don't have anything to do at the moment. We haven't had any run-ins with imperials. Because of you, we're flying clear of the outer rim so no freeing slaves, no smuggling jobs, and we haven't gotten any more information on the Death Star."

"That was a hopeless case from the beginning," Han pointed out.

Luke and Leia shot him an identical look before saying together.

"That monstrosity is a threat to the freedom of everyone in this galaxy. We have to find it," they both said.

Han put his hands up in surrender and muttered for the two to back off. It was pointless trying to fight those two when they teamed up. He could swear those two really were twins if he didn't know better. Not that they looked so much alike, except for maybe the shape of their chins, their slight builds (although Luke was now taller than Leia), and lips, but it was the fact that some of the things they did, the quirks and ways they shared that got Han. They both had the same facial expressions and tilted their heads to the side when they were confused or skeptical. The two had the same temper (although Luke controlled his better than Leia) in addition to the willingness to carry out their threats (He had seen Luke and Leia do it first hand), they seemed to have the same taste, and they had that psychic bond. It usually took no more than a quick glance- and most times not even that- for some understanding or plan to pass between the two. If that wasn't a sibling bond, Han didn't know what was.

"Fine," he finally said. "But come on. We have no leads on it yet, so why don't we find somewhere to take a vacation."

"Well we would go back to Drall, but after that fiasco with that senator's daughter, I don't think we should make another appearance there," Leia pointed out.

"I'll have you know that fiasco wasn't my fault. That girl was crazier than you Leia," Han said, smirking when Leia shot him another glare. "I mean stalker crazy. She was obsessed, I had to stun her."

"Whatever," Leia muttered dryly.

"How about Cloud City?" Luke suggested.

"Cloud city," Han said sitting up. "I've heard of that place. It's got some of the best known casinos and hotels in the galaxy."

"What are they exactly known for Han?" Luke asked rethinking his idea.

"What do you think kid? Big casinos and hotels mean drinking, gambling, parties, and late night-."

"Don't even finish that," Leia warned. Sure she was sometimes flirty and a tease, but Han could be vulgar. While Leia made implications, he was very blunt in his choice of words.

Luke crossed his arms already having a good idea what Han was going to say. In the last year, Han had made it his business to make sure Luke knew about some of the great fact of life and that meant things about sex. Han insisted that Luke couldn't know much of anything stuck on a ship with Leia all the time and it was his responsibility as an adult to make sure he did. Luke had rolled his eyes. He had never seen Han as an adult who could boss him around, but Han educated him anyway… He hadn't been embarrassed about Leia's subtle innocent flirting since.

"Maybe we shouldn't go to Cloud City, although it would be nice to see Lando again, see how he's doing running that mine. We left as soon as he won it," Luke added.

"Won a mine?" Han asked.

"Sabacc tournament," Leia replied. "There's a really big one that goes on every year there. They all put up the most valuable thing they have and play. If you're good at sabacc, you can get a nice bunch of stuff. If you're bad, you can lose everything."

Luke continued. "Lando won the mine at the tournament two years ago. Me an Leia were there bringing supplies to the guy that used to own it when we met Lando," Luke shook his head trying not to laugh. "Played that guy for everything he had."

"Oh please," Leia replied. "Guy thinks he's a pro. It's not so much a game of luck than it is a game of cheats and bluffs."

"And how would you know princess?"

"I grew up with some of the worst scum of the galaxy. I know all the cheats and ins and outs of sabacc. I won't ever play it though." Leia replied casually looking a little lost in her thoughts suddenly.

Luke winced. A game of sabacc was how she ended up on Tatooine, but Han didn't know that, so he thought nothing of it. They had never gotten around to telling Han the truth about Leia's past. All he knew was that she had a tough life. Luke had to tell Han something as an excuse for some of Leia's coldness at times although she was mostly very pleasant. Leia's behavior shocked the heck out of Han when they were hiding from Darth Vader in the outer rim and someone suggested that they were going to report where they were to the empire. She had simply raised her blaster pointed it the alien's chest and shot it point blank, no negotiations and no questions asked. Leia walked off without a second thought using the excuse, "I take my freedom very seriously," and didn't even glance back.

Luke could tell Han liked that about Leia though and he got the feeling that one day, in the distant future (the very distant future if Luke had anything to do with it) the two wouldn't hate each other so much.

"You spoil my fun," Han replied.

"No I won't," Leia said uncaringly. "Just don't ask me to play. You can do whatever."

"Except enter the sabacc tournament. It should be about to start sometime soon," Luke pointed out glancing at Han with a warning look.

"Why not?" Han asked. "We've got plenty of jewels and diamond around here to give away."

"No," Leia corrected. "Me and Luke do. You don't have much of anything. You waste all you stuff on girls and Correlian whiskey."

Behind Han, Chewie, who hadn't had any input yet, roared something that sounded like laughter and then said something else.

"See," Luke said. "Even Chewie agrees."

"Whatever kid," Han said. "I aint going to enter that tournament. Happy?"

"Good," Luke said nodding her head. "We're headed for Bespin Chewie. Do you mind putting the coordinates in? I'm starved."

Chewie growled for him to go ahead and Leia, not feeling like Han grilling her about her mood earlier, followed behind him.

Han sighed. "Chewie, I pity the guy that decides to take on that girl."

Chewie growled something and Han huffed. "Not so bad? The girl's practically a walking time bomb. I don't know what to expect for her. The silliest things tick her off."

Chewie responded and Han looked thoughtful. "Never thought about that. As far as I know they were orphans and did something they weren't supposed to. Don't know where they came from and somehow, I think it's better I don't ask."

Luke and Leia meanwhile searched the fridge for a piece of fruit or something while Artoo and Threepio played a card game at the table.

"You cheat," Threepio was saying. "That was an illegal move and you know it."

Artoo argued back and Threepio replied.

"Well of course I have no backbone. I am made of-."

Artoo shook his dome and then said something else and Threepio gasped.

"Why I never! You're so rude Artoo. You need to learn some manners or better yet, I'll suggest to Master Luke and Miss Leia that you need reprogramming," Threepio replied.

Artoo beeped something in the equivalent of a dry tone for a droid and Threepio gasped.

"What are we going to do on Cloud city?" Leia asked decided on a sandwich instead of fruit. "We aren't even legal yet."

Luke rolled his eyes. "That hasn't stopped either of us from sharing a whiskey with Han every now and then," he pointed out.

"That's different. I hate gambling," Leia replied. "And why would you even suggest that place knowing Han. We'll be in trouble because of some girl before the week is out…"

"You wouldn't care so much if you didn't like him so much," Luke pointed out watching as Leia cut her sandwich in half. As she glared at him trying to hide her blush, he levitated half of the sandwich to his hand.

"Luke," she warned.

He grinned. "Don't try to deny it. It's not like I can't feel your embarrassment anyway."

"I do not like that man in that way. He's nice enough in his own way, but he's a scoundrel," Leia said indignantly.

"And we're the secret heirs to the empire," Luke said. "It's not a bad thing. Han's a nice guy."

"And he drives me nuts," Leia snapped sitting next to Luke.

"Only because you don't want to admit he's not a bad guy," Luke said again. "Look, I know you haven't had exactly a good experience with men, but this guy is genuine… That doesn't mean I actually like the fact that you like him…" Luke added.

Leia raised her eyebrow. "Jealous?"

"Hardly," Luke replied rolling his eyes. "I'm just saying that he's still ten years older than you and whether I like him or not, I don't want you trying to get friendly with him."

Leia rolled her eyes. "Oh yes big brother. I shall not ruin my honor by seducing the handsome pirate and leading him away to my room whilst you are asleep."

Luke shot Leia a look and she laughed.

"You know I'm kidding. I don't like the guy that much," Leia replied and realized what she said as Luke started to say something with a teasing grin. "If I like him at all…"

Han came in a few minutes later pointing toward the cockpit. "We're about to drop out of hyperspace kid. You might want to go man your chair."

Another benefit of Han travelling with them was that he knew all the quickest hyperspace routes. What used to take them a few hours would take them thirty minutes at best now.

Leia went to their weapons cabinetry and began to load her belt. Han followed behind her. She remembered when he first saw it. He had been amazed at the types of weapons two kids to stock up on and the two assured him they had all come to good use.

"What are we going to need weapons for?" Han asked. "I thought you guys said you know the guy."

Leia sighed as she passed him a high tech blaster. "Yeah we know Lando, but there is some scum in that city. Never hurts to be prepared."

Han nodded in agreement hooking the blaster as he heard Luke talking over the intercom.

"No we don't have a landing permit," Luke replied but quickly added. "But we don't need one. Tell your baron, Lando Calrissian it's Padmé and Anakin."

"I hope that helps," Han muttered. "Are you sure about this?"

"Lando said that anytime we wanted to stop by we could," Luke replied and then a voice came through the intercom.

"You're clear."

"Guess the swindler came through," Leia said sitting in the co-pilot's seat.

"Swindler?" Han said.

"Yeah. He's a swindling no good scoundrel just like you. You'll like him," Leia pointed out.

"That's- Wait a minute princess!" Han began but Luke cut him off.

"He really is a swindler though. He swindled the guy who used to own this place out of it in the sabacc tournament. Tricked the guy into putting it up. Lando's not dumb enough to do that though. I wonder what he's entering…" Luke said as he landed the ship on the landing pad

"Oh thank heavens," said Threepio headed to the ramp. "I was beginning to get bored of traveling through space and dangerous missions." He stopped thoughtfully. "This isn't a dangerous mission is it Master Luke?"

Luke laughed. "No Threepio. Call it a vacation."

Threepio clasped his hands together. "Oh how exciting. Come on Artoo. Maybe they'll have some kind of accommodations for droids."

The two droids started down the ramp. Luke went next, followed by Leia and then Chewie and Han. They were greeted by a tall black man with curly hair.

"Padmé, Anakin!" Lando said as they came down. "It's been too long."

"Yeah," Luke said shrugging. "Been travelling the galaxy. You know we can never be in one place long."

"Glad you got back around to Bespin. I've been wanting to show you what I've done with the place. If I had know you were coming, I would have prepared rooms for you two," said Lando. "I'll have you a place ready in about an hour."

"No need to do that for us Lando. As long as it's a place we can rest," Luke started to say but Leia stepped in front of him.

"Can you make sure the rooms have clean sheets, good lighting, preferably a window, and we want easy access to a dining hall or somewhere we can get some food," she pointed out.

Lando laughed. "Always did know what you wanted Padmé. My, my, my," he said seriously as he took in her appearance. "How much you've blossomed in such a short time…"

"They must not have told you what she did to the last guy that said something like that to her," Han said and Lando looked up.

"Who's this?"

"Lando, Han." Luke said.

"Han, Lando," Leia continued and then said, "You're both conniving, no good scoundrels, the perfect foundation for friendship.

Lando laughed and shook Han's hand then turned to Chewie who growled at him. Lando took a step back and Han rolled his eyes.

"That's just Chewie," he said. "Looks tough, but soft as cotton on the inside."

"Well I'm sure you all are starving. We were just about to have some lunch. Your rooms should be ready by the time we're through," Lando said leading them inside.

"Wow," Han said to Lando as they walked into the facility. "If this is how you treat common folk, I'd love to see how you'd treat royalty."

"Nah. I owe it to those two," Lando said. "They're the ones that helped me win that sabacc tournament and get this place. Padmé's a real genius when it comes to that game. I practically cruised right through it with her help. Taught me some tricks I didn't even know."

Han looked at Leia with a raised eyebrow. "Oh really," he said to Lando.

"Yeap. It's the least I can do for those two," Lando said walking ahead.

Han fell back with Luke and Leia.

"Looks like someone wasn't telling the whole story," Han said dryly.

Leia cleared her throat. "I may have given Lando a few tips at the time. But it was either help him or not get paid. Guy who hired us wouldn't pay us in full because some of his shipment was missing. But it wasn't our fault. He never told us how big the shipment was and his supplier swindled him."

"We met Lando and somehow we got to talking about the sabacc tournament. Leia mentioned that she knew the game backwards and forwards and Lando said if we helped him win, he would pay what the old baron owed us," Luke said and then laughed. "I don't think he actually thought we could do it because he was so grateful, not only did he pay us, he welcomed us back any time we felt like it."

When they were settled in the dining hall, Leia grabbed the salad bowl and gave herself a helping first. Luke, seeing her eagerness sent, _Remember Leia. Manners._

Leia blushed but started to eat slowly after she passed the bowl to Luke. He constantly teased her about her appetite. It was almost like she still couldn't get out her previous psyche of never having enough. She had been horrible when they were on Drall. It was famous for its food and Luke was positive Leia tried every cuisine on the planet.

"So Lando. Are you entering the Sabacc tournament this year?" Luke asked.

Lando nodded. "Yeah, but I'm not dumb enough to put up this facility for bet. I'm putting up this ship I won off someone about a year after you two left."

"A ship!" Luke asked.

"I thought that would gain your attention," Lando said. "We can go look at it after lunch. It's a real beauty."

When Luke and Leia did see the ship though, they wondered, if the ship was Lando's definition of beauty, what was his definition of ugly.

"What a piece of junk," Luke muttered to Leia. "It's antique!"

"I think calling it antique would be a compliment," Leia said staring at the ship. "Antiques have a special charm about them. But this…"

Han on the other hand was in awe as he looked at the ship. It was just the kind of thing he was looking for. Sure it was nice travelling with Luke and Leia, but he thought it was long overdue that he started travelling on his own. The problem was finding a ship. He was sure as big of a heart as those two had, they'd buy him a ship if he asked, but what would it look like for a twenty-six year old man asking two sixteen year olds if he could borrow about fifteen thousand credits. And besides, he hadn't found a ship he was interested in anyway… until now.

"This is the Millennium Falcon," Lando said resting his hands on the ship. "Aint she something?"

Luke nodded in disbelief. "Yeah. She's something alright…"

"And that something is-." Leia began but Luke hit her on the arm.

_What? _she asked.

_Don't be so mean. If he likes it, what can we say,_ Luke said.

_Well I don't have anything nice to say about it. It's nothing like Queen Amidala,_ Leia replied dryly.

"Wow," Han said. "I remember seeing these things back home. I always did want one."

"Well you probably won't find one like this anywhere," Lando said patting the freighter. "Want to take the grand tour?"

"Don't need to," Han said and then looked at Lando. "How much would you be willing to sell her for?"

Lando laughed. "Are you kidding? There's not enough money in the galaxy that would make me sell this baby. But I did put it up for bet when I entered the tournament, but I'm a shoe in to win with the tricks Padmé taught me. Tell you what though, if you enter the sabacc tournament you might just be able to win her form me."

Han's eyes lit up and Luke and Leia felt his excitement.

"Which he won't be doing," Luke said firmly.

"I will if I want to kid. Just because I hitched a ride on your ship doesn't mean you have to right to govern what I am and aint gone do," Han said angrily.

"I'm not trying to," Luke stated calmly. "But you have nothing to bet. Everything on the Amidala is pretty much ours."

"We'll be going to our rooms now Lando," Leia said. "Don't worry. We can find them."

As Luke and Leia started to walk away, Lando laughed at Han.

"Whipped by two kids," he said. Chewie growled in agreement and Han glared at the wookie.

"They got you too Chewie or have you forgotten that business in the Hapes system?"

Chewi growled something to Han indignantly and Han smirked running after Luke and Leia.

"Come on you two," Han said. "All I need for you to do is put up the money to bet so I can enter and I'll handle it from there."

"No way Han," Luke said shaking his head.

"Besides, this kind of tournament doesn't except money. They want ships, star systems, cities, businesses. You don't have anything like that and we're not going to risk anything we own, which isn't much, to help you get some old ship," Leia snapped.

"This is what I get for running away from the military with two teenagers," Han muttered.

Luke looked at Han. "You're really serious about that piece of junk?" he asked.

"It's not a piece of junk," Han defended and Leia started to walk backwards raising her eyebrow at him.

"Then do tell, what is it? It certainly shouldn't be classified as a ship. I doubt that thing would even lift off the ground," she said crossing her arms and tilting her head.

Han jumped a little. Startled that Luke crossed his arms and tilted his head in a similar fashion. The two of them could be downright freaky when they were together and that's when they weren't in action. He had seen them lift large crates and hurl them at people, throw dozens of people across the room at the same time, and know when things were about to happen. If he didn't believe in that hokey force religion by then, well… Not even Han was _that_ oblivious. There might be something to it.

"Well," Luke and Leia demanded impatiently.

"I don't know you two," Han admitted. "I don't know what it is. But I just know that ship is meant for me. There was a reason we chose to come here out of all the places in the galaxy."

The two laughed. "So what are you now? Force sensitive?" Leia asked.

"Yeah. I thought you didn't believe in that stuff Han," Luke said stifling a laughed.

Han rolled his eyes and said in a dry tone, "Oh ha, ha. Laugh it up you two."

"You've suggested some pretty ridiculous things Han," Luke finally said getting a hold on his laughter. "But this is one of your most ridiculous suggestions."

"Sure know how to make a guy feel good," Han shot.

Chewie growled something and Han gaped.

"See," Leia said laughing. "Even Chewie agrees."

"What is it?" Han asked. "Gang up on Han day?"

Threepio spoke up then. "Actually sir. It's-."

"Can it goldenrod," Han interrupted.

Luke sighed as they arrived at the rooms Lando had designated for them. "Tell you what Han. If you want a ship so bad, when we leave here, we can go to Lianna and looked at some of their much nicer ships, a less expensive one anyway, and you can pick any ship you want. They could even design you one from scratch. The people there owe us a favor anyway for stopping the rebels from blowing it up."

"I don't like asking kids for money," Han replied.

"Call it a loan then."

"But nothing I can come up with or anything they've got will compare to the Falcon," Han said.

"That's the point," Leia said. "Look scoundrel. Take it or leave it. Lianna makes the best ships in the galaxy and although it does business with the empire, it's not really part of it. If you don't want to do that, until you see another ship that suits your rather… unusual taste in ships, you'll be stuck with us."

With that, Luke and Leia went into their rooms, Luke taking Artoo and Threepio with him, and closed the doors signaling an end to the conversation.

Han looked a Chewie and sighed. "You know, I wouldn't feel so bad about feeling like I had just argued with my parents over something and lost if it weren't two sixteen year olds I was arguing with."

Chewie growled a replied.

"I know. It really does suck to be subjected to and bossed by two kriffing kids just because they call all the shots."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Aren't you two a little young to be coming here," the guard at the entrance to the casino said to Luke and Leia later that evening.

Leia began to reply, but Lando said, "They're with me. It's okay."

The guard let them through and while Luke and Leia went to find a game to play for some quick cash, Han sat with Lando at the bar while they ordered drinks.

"So how long have you known those two," Lando asked when their drinks came and the two had turned around to keep an eye on the two teenagers.

"About a year now. Let's just say it had something to do with a Star Destroyer, some wookies, and trying to leave before a man in a big black suit caught up to them," Han said simply.

"Yeah," Lando said laughing. "That sounds like them. Always in trouble those two."

"Yeah," Han said dryly. "And I thought I was a trouble magnet growing up. I got nothing on those two."

"I don't think anyone does," Lando pointed out looking at Leia. "She really has grown up nicely."

Han rolled his eyes. "Two words for you buddy. Under. Age."

"I know that, but give her a few more years," Lando replied.

"A word of advice, don't try it," said Han. "There's two reasons for that. One, girl has a temper about as bad a krayt dragon on a good day. Two, the kid."

"Her brother?" Lando said.

Han nodded. "There's nothing in the galaxy L-Anakin wouldn't do for that girl. He's usually pretty good natured and much calmer and laid back than Padmé, but threaten her and he loses all rationality."

Lando nodded. He knew that from experience. "I've never seen siblings as close as those two are, even twins."

Han wished he could point out that the two weren't actually twins or siblings at all, but that would blow their cover.

"Yeah, well those two have experienced sith hell and then some together. They only have each other," he said and then winced when he saw Leia throw a right hook at an alien standing next to her at the table she and Luke were playing some dice game on.

Luke laughed at the dazed look on the alien's face as Leia simply turned back to the dice game as though nothing had ever happened.

"Hard core those two," Lando said shaking his head.

"I call it insanity," Han muttered. "Hey where can I sign up for this sabacc tournament?"

"At the reception desk near the front," Lando said and then added, "Your benefactors actually going to let you enter?"

Han winced. "I'm working on that."

"Better hurry up then. Tournament's in a few days. Last day to register is tomorrow," Lando replied.

Han tossed about how he was going to convince Luke and Leia to loan him something to let him enter the entire night. A year ago, he never would have thought he would have to ask two people ten years his junior to loan him something. But if he didn't, he'd always be subjected to the two and that didn't appeal to Han too much. He needed his own wings to fly and the Falcon was the perfect ship to do it. By the time it was time for them to leave, Han resolved that there was no way he was going to get Luke and Leia to let him enter the tournament, so he would have to enter it with their permission.

"You two ready to go?" Han asked the two when it was close to midnight.

"Past your bedtime already?" Leia sniped.

"No, but you two need to get some rest. Not a vacation if you don't," Han pointed out and Leia looked at him for a moment before her face softened with a smile.

"We don't need anyone to look after us," Leia said.

"But thanks for the concern," Luke said since that was the closest thing to appreciativeness as Han was going to get from Leia. "You're right. It's time we leave."

When they were headed down the street back to Lando' base of operations, Han groaned and snapped his fingers.

"Shoot. I left something at the casino. I'm going to go right back and get it. You all go ahead," he said.

Luke and Leia could detect a lie a parsec away, which was the reason Han really had left something at the casino albeit on purpose so the two wouldn't detect a lie.

"Sure Han," Luke said.

"Don't wait up for me," Han said with a wink and Leia rolled her eyes.

"We won't," she assured

When they were back in their rooms (well back in Leia's room actually) Luke looked at the blaster he was cleaning thoughtfully. Leia, noticing his pensive mood as she polished the ones Luke cleaned frowned.

"What?" she asked.

"Was it just me or did it seem like Han wasn't telling the whole truth," Luke asked.

"I didn't sense that he was lying," Leia pointed out.

"Just because he wasn't lying didn't mean there wasn't any deception involved," Luke responded. "He wasn't telling us something."

Leia looked up at him from the blaster she was polishing with a smile and said, "I thought I was the suspicious one."

Luke laughed and tossed a cleaning cloth at her face, except she stopped it with the force giving Luke the chance to throw one at her with the force. It met its mark and the next thing both of them knew, they were using the force to throw pillows, sheets and other random items across the room at each other, much to Threepio, Chewie, and Artoo's dismay.

"Please Master Luke and Miss Leia. It's impossible for me to shut down and get some rest with all this ruckus," Threepio said.

Chewie growled something that Luke and Leia translated to, "Calm down you two. I'm trying to sleep," but the two ignored him until Leia accidently set off the blaster she was holding.

Everyone jumped and screamed startled. Luke and Leia exchanged a look before falling over onto one of the pillows laughing.

"Leia," Luke said holding his stomach.

"It wasn't my fault. I forgot I was holding it," Leia replied still laughing with the said blaster in her hand.

The door opened and Han walked in. He stopped for a moment and blinked seeing Luke and Leia lying on the floor.

"Who threw a party and didn't invite me?"

"Hey Han," Luke said standing up and then helping Leia.

Han shook his head. He didn't see how those two could be as close as they were, claim not to be really related and have nothing romantic between them. He didn't wonder about that for long though. He had to see how he was going to break to Luke and Leia what he had done…

Luke stopped, sensing Han's inner struggle and turned to look at him.

"What's wrong Han?" he asked.

Han ran a hand through his hair and cursed the kid for his force sensitivity as he sat down on the messy bed. At this, Leia turned to look at him cautiously.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Nothing," Han said quickly.

Chewie, Luke, and Leia all said, "You're lying."

"It can wait until morning," Han tried.

Leia and Luke exchanged a look and Han had a feeling he missed a conversation before they turned back to him.

"Spit it out Han," Luke warned.

Han winced and muttered something under his breath. Had Luke and Leia been two normal people without force sensitivity, they wouldn't have heard it. But alas they did.

Luke found that even he was having a hard time reigning in his temper. Leia on the other hand didn't even try.

"What do you mean you entered the kriffing sabacc tournament?" she hissed trying not to shout.

Han suddenly became very aware of the blaster the girl was holding and cringed at what she would do when she found out the rest of the story.

"I mean exactly what I said," Han declared standing up to tower over Leia. "I entered the tournament."

"Han you kriffing nerf herding scoundrel," Leia said not at all intimidated.

"Now you hold up a minute princess. I'm a grown ass man and just because you and your brother call the shots around here doesn't mean I have to listen. I take care myself and I don't need you two acting like you're my karking parents," Han snapped.

Leia started to lift her blaster at Han, but Luke intervened.

"Alright you two stop it," Luke said sighing. "It's done Leia. We can't do anything about it. He already entered. If he wants to risk what he owns for this stupid contest, then let him…" Luke trailed off as it occurred to him that Han didn't own much.

"Wait, what did you bet?" he asked.

Han cringed… and now Luke was going to kill him.

"Before I say this," Han said. "Let's remember that it was the only thing we had and technically, it belongs to me too."

"Spit it out Han," Leia said hearing growling from Chewie that was the equivalent of laughter.

"The Amidala," Han said.

Leia's jaw dropped and then it occurred to her that Luke loved the ship more than she ever did and this was impacting him more than it was her.

"Han, you put up the Amidala?" Luke asked and by then Chewie was howling with laughter.

"I needed something worth putting up. Besides, I really want that ship."

"Han, our ship is a royal Naboo Star Skiff, a ship so valuable they weren't even put into mass production on Naboo and you're comparing it to that piece of junk," Luke snapped.

"Oh please," Han said. "Don't worry."

"Don't worry," Leia shouted and then said something in huttese. "What the stang do you mean don't worry. You do realize that if you lose that tournament, we lose our ship!"

Han rolled his eyes. "As if you're going to let someone take your ship. You'd just throw a few blaster shots, cause some trouble, and blast your way out the system with it."

"We'd like to not have to cause trouble everywhere we land Han," Luke shot and then groaned. "You…you… e chu ta!"

Leia winced at that as Luke stormed out the room. Han looked at her and said.

"What did he just call me?"

Leia simply glared at him and followed Luke out the room.

Han sighed. It had gone better than he though. At least Leia hadn't shot him. He turned to Threepio.

"Hey goldenrod. What did the kid say?" Han asked.

"I'm afraid it's too vulgar for me to translate sir. I'd be too embarrassed," Threepio said shaking his head.

Later that night, when Luke and Leia decided to share a bed that just in case either of them got the idea to go kill Han in the middle of the night and because they usually ended up sharing a bed anyway. Han had caught them once and in disbelief said, "You mean to tell me this is a normal occurrence and not once have you all…" he added something vulgar in Corellian slang and Luke turned scarlet while Leia rolled her eyes.

_I can't believe Han did that, _Luke sent.

Leia sighed. _Don't remind me he did it. I still want to shoot him. He just doesn't get it. The Amidala isn't just a ship._

_It's the only thing we can call home in this galaxy. Whenever we got tired of somewhere or overstayed our visit, we have it,_ Luke sighed. _Han's right though. He is older than us and we do have the tendency to treat him like we own him or something._

_Don't tell me you agree with that scoundrel?_

Luke shook his head. _No, but you do know what we have to do._

_Luke…_

_Yes Leia. We owe a lot to him. The least we can do is try to help him. We helped Lando._

_No, I helped him reluctantly, _Leia sent.

_Fine, but the point is we have to support him on this. He's right. He's not someone we can just boss around because we own the ship. We shouldn't hold it over his head._

_He'll let us if he doesn't want to end up dumped out with the trash when we're in the middle of space._

Luke ignored her comment and added, _If that ship is what he wants, we're going to help him get it._

Leia made a reluctant sound before saying out loud, "Fine. Whatever. We'll help him. But that's all I'm doing. You better not expect me to apologize for going off on him back there. He still put up our ship for back behind our backs."

"I wouldn't expect it at all from you princess," Luke said turning over on his side and closing his eyes.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Luke stood with Chewie, Threepio, and Artoo as Han got ready for his first match in the tournament.

"Hey guys. Where's Leia?"

Luke shrugged. "You know her. Probably sitting in her room protesting this whole thing. Doesn't really believe in this game."

Han shrugged. "Weird one that so-called sister of yours," he said.

Luke sighed… If only Han really knew what Leia was doing.

"We'll be rooting for you Han," Luke said and Chewie growled something of the same sentiments as Han went to go play his first round.

Luke turned to Chewie. "You think he'll ever forgive us for what we're doing?"

Chewie growled a response and Luke nodded in agreement.

"You're right. He's got too much pride to admit when he might need some help. Leia's like that."

Chewie responded.

"I definitely agree with that. Maybe it's just best we don't tell Han what she's doing," Luke said.

Artoo put his two credits worth in that time.

"Yeah, you're right. We just won't mention it at all," he said and then looked at Chewie. "You agree."

Chewie nodded.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

"_Leave her alone!"_

_A light saber went flying through the air as the boy tackled the man down and proceeded to try to fight him off with his bare hands._

"_Luke! No!"_

…_._

"_Luke stay with me."_

…

"_I won't let him die. Please."_

Darth Vader broke out of his meditation. His heart quickened and his mind was frantic as he tried to understand the meaning of his vision. The two children in the vision were undoubtedly the ones he had pursued for the last three years… well, after the disaster on Commander Nyklas' Star Destroyer, he had decided her would be better off leaving the two children to their own devices for a while. Not to mention he had let the boy go once already. This vision brought up another question though. Why was he having a vision of the two in the first place.

It was odd. He never had visions of anyone whom he had no real concern for dying. Sure, he wished to find the two children for purely personal gain, but this was more like a warning, to go save the two children, the boy who he now knew was named Luke.

Vader was sure of one thing though. The man attacking the two children in his vision was a jedi. Why a jedi would want to kill two force sensitive children instead of training them was beyond Vader's ability to comprehend at that moment. But because it was a jedi after the two children and more than likely the jedi would get the two in his grasp, it was Vader's duty to find him and the quickest way to do that was to find the children.

Meanwhile, on Dantooine, the new headquarters for the rebel alliance, Obi-Wan shot out his bed from having the same vision. He wasn't quite sure what it was, but Luke and Leia were in grave danger. In the last three years, he had been unable to track them down. But with all the ruckus the rebellion and the empire had made about two teenage children wrecking havoc on the galaxy, he was absolutely certain they were alive.

Padmé was probably watching down on them somewhere in the force worrying herself to a second death. Obi-Wan got up. He couldn't let this vision slide. He picked up his commlink and made contact with the only person he could trust to help him.

"Obi-Wan," Bail Organa said shocked to be getting a call so suddenly from the jedi master.

"I'm sorry to bother you Bail. I hope I didn't interrupt anything, but I really need for you to arrange for me a personal shuttle. It's about Luke and Leia."

xxxxxxxxxxx

"And you guys had no faith in me at all," Han was saying for the umpteenth time after the tournament came to an end and against all odds, he had won.

Luke rolled his eyes. Now he was really tempted to just tell Han what he and Leia had done for him. Leia wasn't saying anything about Han's bragging to Luke's surprise. She simply sat packing her bags as they got ready to leave Cloud City.

"Well, I have to say I was kind of doubting you when it got to the end," Luke said opening the door and letting Leia out the room first before he followed her with Chewie, Artoo, Threepio, and Han following closely behind them.

"And you two doubted me. You still have your ship and I have my new one," Han pointed out.

"If you can call that hunk of junk new," Leia replied as they arrived to their ship. Lando was waiting for them near it.

"So I guess this is it," Han said when they got to the Amidala.

Luke looked at Leia who smiled and then turned to Han. "I guess so scoundrel," she said.

"You two take care of yourselves," Han said. "And look out for me, Chewie and the Falcon. If you need us, just do that force stuff and we'll try and tack you down."

Lando came to stand next to Han. "And remember, if you ever need somewhere to stay for a while, you're always welcome here."

"Thanks Lando," Luke said and Threepio came back down the ramp.

"Artoo says the ship is ready for takeoff sir. I think he's rather eager to get going on some wild adventure," Threepio said sighing. "Can I vote to avoid trouble for a while Perhaps settle down somewhere and make an honest living on a nice planet."

Luke ignored Threepio. "Take care of Han Chewie. Don't let him get into too much trouble now that we aren't there to bail him out."

"Later princess," Han said with a wink at Leia.

She rolled her eyes and started up the ship. "Good riddance scoundrel," she said and Han translated it to meaning that she would miss him too.

Luke followed her and sat in his pilot's seat. Leia was already in her usual spot. As Luke lifted them into space, Leia said, "I really would have liked to tell Han that I was there manipulating the game the whole time so he's win that tournament."

Luke grinned. "You'd think he's notice that you were a little too short to be a bounty hunter from Mandalore."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_In the next chapter, Luke and Leia make their way to Alderaan to get information on the Death Star from a secret informant. But when they get there, Luke finds something even more valuable than that information could have ever been. The man's a jedi and he knows who Luke's father is, the great hero of the clone wars who disappeared during the purges, Anakin Skywalker. However there's something off about this jedi and when Luke stumbles upon a secret in the man's house, he and Leia have to leave quick. But a simple escape situation becomes a fight to stay just get off of Alderaan alive and in one piece, when not only are there two jedi after them, but also Darth Vader has found them again…_

So this… I don't know. I wasn't exactly happy with it per say, but it wasn't the worst chapter on the planet. Okay. You guys are going to love the next few chapters. Hope you enjoyed. Review please!


	10. Alderaan

You know something. This story has turned out to be my most popular story yet. Oh yeah and I meant to announce this before, but this story was put in two C2's! I was so happy when I saw it because none of my stories have made it to a C2 before.

Anyway, normally I hate OCs because let's face it, they can take over a story sometimes, but in this case it was necessary and he plays a vital role, but doesn't overshadow the main characters. So without further delay, here's the next chapter, one of my favorites. Read, enjoy, and review!

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

**Chapter Ten  
**

**Alderaan**

"Luke!" Leia said running to where he was lounging on their ship somewhere in route to a random planet.

Luke looked up from where he was tinkering with Threepio. Leia, curious to find out what he was doing stopped what she was about to say and asked, "What are you doing?"

"I think Threepio has a memory block somewhere, but I can't figure out how to reverse it," Luke replied.

"What makes you say that?" Leia asked sitting near Luke's work bench.

"Because I think it malfunctioned for a minute. He was asking about a Master Ani and Miss Padmé."

"He could have been talking about us. I guess Ani could be short for Anakin," Leia pointed out.

Luke shook his head. "Threepio never calls us that on the ship. I think he was talking about someone else. He even asked me who I was and then he shut down, turned back on and it was like nothing happened for him."

"Do you even know how old Threepio is Luke? Most of the time when droids are sold or passed on, their memories are wipe. It was probably just from the master he had before Senator Organa."

"I still want to know who Ani and Padmé are," Luke insisted.

Leia sighed and took the tool he was using from him with the force. Luke looked at her in annoyance and expectantly waited for her to hand it back. She didn't.

"You'll traumatize the poor droid Luke. You know how Threepio is. Besides, we have more pressing matters to attend to," Leia added.

Luke wipe his hands off with a towel and despite being a little upset that Leia had stopped his tinkering, he said, "What matters?"

"We just got a transmission from someone who has a project we might be interested in and you'll never guess what it's about," Leia said trying to hold back her excitement.

"The Death Star," Luke stated and Leia frowned.

"How…?" Leia scowled. "You cheated. You weren't supposed to read my mind."

Luke laughed. "It was kind of hard not to Leia. You were practically projecting your thoughts through your excitement."

Leia sighed. "Well now that the suspense is ruined, we have to meet this guy. He says it's too dangerous to talk about over a line, even if it's secure. So he suggest we meet on a planet in the outer rim."

Luke raised an eyebrow and put down his towel. "What planet Leia?"

"Nar Shaddaa," Leia responded casually.

Luke stared at the girl in disbelief before standing up, shaking his head, and walking out the room toward the kitchen.

"No," he said.

Leia sighed and rushed after him. "Luke. Come on!"

"No way Leia," Luke said going through the refrigerator. "I can't even believe you're actually suggesting we go there. Have you lost your mind?"

"Oh come on," Leia said reaching in the back and pulling out some of the Corellian whiskey that Han had left behind. "You've dragged me on crazy mission before. Infiltrating that trading post in the black market was your idea."

"Which you ruined by the way," Luke replied. "And that mission on Corellia was your idea. Just as crazy."

"Which you ruined because you thought you were in love," Leia snapped back and then decided that being snappy and mean to Luke wasn't going to get anywhere with convincing him. Sure Luke was a nice laid back kind of guy, but he didn't tolerate people being snappy and losing their tempers with him. He was calm sure, but yelling in his face only strengthened his resolve and made him more stubborn.

"Come on Luke," she tried again calming down. "This is about the Death Star. We've been trying to get more information on it for years and this might be our chance to actually do something about it. If we can find its location and what it does, we can take down the ship before it's even operational."

"Look Leia," Luke said taking the whisky from her and pouring himself some before handing it back. "I'd do just about anything for you and I know finding out more about the Death Star is important to you. It's important to me too. But I'm not going to risk our lives unnecessarily for a piece of information that might lead on a one way trip to nowhere. That planet is too dangerous and my senses are telling me we'll regret it later."

"But Luke-."

"Not on Nar Shaddaa Leia. It's in hutt space and we both know the huts don't forget things too easily. I think they may still be sour about that Hutt we killed on Affavan," Luke pointed out.

Leia groaned. Luke was right. But she couldn't just pass this up.

"What if we meet on a different planet?"

"It has to be a planet that's not populated by a bunch of scum," Luke replied.

"Alright," Leia said. That pretty much meant nowhere in Hutt space.

"And it has to be in a system where there's no price on our head."

"Alderaan," Leia suggested and gave her reasoning before Luke could protest. "I'm sure there's no warrant on us for stealing two droids and I've always wanted to go to Alderaan. Please!"

Luke smiled. "I was actually going to say that's a great idea."

Leia jumped up and hugged Luke. "And who knows," she added. "We might happen to see Winter."

Luke turned red and Leia smirked.

"We're not going to Alderaan for a vacation Leia. This is strictly business. We go, get the info, and leave. I'm agreeing with you, but I have a bad feeling about this," he said seriously.

Leia wouldn't admit to Luke that she had the same feeling, but if she did, she could go ahead and forget about meeting this guy for info on the Death Star. Not that Luke was at all scared of anything. In fact, he was the more rash and impulsive one out of the two. The only thing that held him back was Leia. Leia sighed wondering if she should tell Luke her feelings on the matter before deciding against it. She knew Luke was only trying to keep her safe but they had run head on into dangerous situations before and this was no different. If there was danger, they would get out of it.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Alderaan.

Vader had no idea why the force had sent him here in his meditation, but here he was orbiting the planet on the Star Destroyer.

"Have you made contact with Senator Organa?" Vader asked the captain.

"Yes milord. He's awaiting your arrival," the captain replied.

"Good," Vader said and made his way to the waiting shutting.

Senator Organa was waiting to meet him when he landed.

"Lord Vader," Bail said bowing his head. "It is an honor."

"I'm sure," Vader said, his voice laced with sarcasm. Bail Organa wasn't afraid of him, but the man had always been a little nervous around him for some reason and his nervousness was heightened more than usual that day. It was no secret to Vader that Organa was a rebel sympathizer and Vader also had reason to believe he was in contact with a jedi. However, Vader couldn't prove it, and he didn't have the time to try. He was on a mission.

"I have no time for pleasantries," Vader said cutting off the senator as he began to open his mouth. "I need the full cooperation of the royal house and your planet for this mission."

"Perhaps it would help if we knew what this mission was?" Bail suggested. Vader's unexpected arrival had put a damper on Obi-Wan's plans to find Luke and Leia now. Thankfully, Obi-Wan had gotten to Alderan before Vader did, but the trouble was hiding him and getting him off planet before Vader noticed. Actually, Obi-Wan could have left days ago, but he seemed to be dragging his feet about it, mentioning that the force was telling him to stay. Bail didn't argue. He knew better than to try an interfere with a jedi and their connection to the force or any force sensitive for that matter. Leia had shown examples of determination to do something because of a feeling, as the little girl used to call it, and that was before she was even five, before she was taken away from him…

"That's confidential Senator. I will need to start my investigation immediately, starting with a complete interrogation of everyone in this palace along with a thorough search of the palace," Vader replied.

The force had led him to Alderaan and so the first thing Vader needed to make sure of was that Bail Organa wasn't hiding a jedi or the two force sensitive children in his home. Then he would send his forces elsewhere in the planet.

xxxxxxxxxxxx

Obi-Wan snapped out his meditation when a familiar presence brushed his senses.

"Vader," he muttered and made sure his presence was even more concealed in the force. Along with the fact that he was in a secret room in the palace that was almost impossible to find, even with the force, he was confident Vader would not find him.

But that brought about the question, why was Vader on Alderaan to begin with. There was no way he could have found out Obi-wan was there. Only Bail and his most trusted guard knew he was there to begin with. It couldn't have been leaked… It slowly came to Obi-wan that it may have been a possibility that Vader had come seeking Luke and Leia. The two were practically infamous in the galaxy and it was no secret that the empire was searching for the two troublesome teenagers. But the empire had long since given up on trying to find them, or so Obi-Wan had heard. Whereas Obi-wan used to be able to pick up Luke's vibrant force presence in the force once before, just enough to know that he was alive and assume that Leia was as well, in the last two years or so, his signature had disappeared as well, except for a few brief stints where both Luke and Leia's presence pulsed in the force. When he felt that, it was usually guaranteed that something about the two would be on the holonews and it usually was though the empire always referred to them as a terrorist group and not two teenagers. That would go over with the public well…

Obi-Wan could only assume that somehow, Leia was unconsciously shielding her brother's presence in the force in determination to not be found.

Logically speaking, Obi-Wan should have left Alderaan days ago, but the force was rarely if ever logical or it never seemed that way on the surface. Then he felt something, a small warning in the force telling him to get outside the palace walls and go into the city. Obi-Wan would have to do so without anyone noticing and that meant waiting until Vader left the palace.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Wow," Leia said looking out the window as Luke paid the man the fee for docking his ship. "Alderaan is so beautiful."

Luke came to stand next to her, along with Threepio and Artoo.

"Oh it's so great to be on this planet again. No air pollution, no dangerous infiltrations, no blasters. Perfectly safe for a droid. Don't you agree Artoo?"

Artoo replied with dry beeps and whistles.

"It's not boring. It's safe! Think of the opportunity here. We can learn so much about the galaxy in the museum here. I wonder if they've added new exhibits."

Artoo replied with little interest.

"You can have just as much fun learning new things in a museum and a book as you can flying the galaxy and seeing for yourself," Threepio declared. "And it's much less dangerous.

Artoo replied something that translated to, "That's the fun in it," and ignored Threepio as he turned to look at the view.

"It all seems so familiar to me," Leia said quietly. "It's like I know this place. I'm connected to it somehow."

"Maybe the people that adopted you brought you here for a vacation. Or maybe you even lived here before. We could look into it if you want," Luke suggested softly ignoring the nagging feeling in the back of his mind that told him they needed to leave Alderaan.

"To tell you the truth Luke, I'm not at all that interested in my adopted parents," Leia replied. "Besides, we came here on business. We need to get going to that restaurant."

"I hope it's not too fancy," Luke said looking down at his casual clothing.

"I'm wearing about the same thing so who cares," Leia said heading out the docking bay and onto the streets of Aldera. It was similar to Naboo, but where Naboo was warm and humid with serene colors, Alderaan had a much cooler and dryer air about it since it had so many mountains, with colors that reflected the planets many mountains, reds, grays, whites, some greens.

"This reminds me of Naboo," Luke said as they searched for the restaurant.

"Yeah," Leia said with a smile. "Except this time we're not stealing anything or causing trouble during the celebration of an important figure of society."

Luke put an arm around Leia's shoulder and laughed.

"But it was fun. It was starting to get boring on Naboo," Luke said. "A healthy dosage of trouble and mischief go a long way and as long as we're not seriously injured, killed, or captured, I can live with the consequences. My aunt and uncle could do nothing to keep me out of trouble. Even when they grounded me, I got in trouble."

"Imagine the trouble we would have given our parents if they were alive," Leia said throwing her arm around Luke's shoulder.

"That would be hilarious. Think we still would have managed to steal a ship and travel the galaxy? Hell, would we have even met?"

"Yeah, except it would have been our jedi parents following us around the galaxy looking for their tiresome child. Now that I think about it, if our parents were jedi, they probably would have known each other, and we probably would have grown up in the jedi temple together," Leia said imagining how that life would have been.

"The jedi temple?" Luke asked.

"I did some research on it. It used to be on Coruscant," Leia pointed out. "It's where the jedi used to live before the empire wiped them out. We would have had to live under certain rules and learned the force and protected the galaxy within the confines of the jedi order. I heard they even used to regulate that the jedi couldn't have personal lives or desires. There was just the force. It's all ridiculous to me. Sounds a lot like another less brutal form of slavery, even though they were good people."

"What about us then? Would we have even known our parents? Jedi weren't allowed to have families right?" Luke asked.

Leia pondered this question and got her answer from the force. "We would have. I don't know how, but we would have been the exception."

Luke was silent as her thought about that and then said. "But we wouldn't have been able to steal a ship and travel the galaxy?"

"Not with the jedi's approval," Leia said with a smile.

"Yeah. Approval or not, I think if we got bored enough and living in those kind of confines, I think we would have, we probably would have ditched that place," Luke said in a dry tone. It was making him bored just thinking about it.

"And your dark blonde haired, blue eyed, jedi mother and father would have been cursing all the way to come find you," Leia said laughing.

Luke joined her. "And your brunette headed, brown eyed parents would be talking all indignantly and red in the face with anger about how they were going to kill the impulsive young man their daughter had run off with despite the fact that his daughter insists their only friends."

Leia leaned her head back on Luke's shoulder with laughter and then abruptly looked back up as she spotted the restaurant.

"There it is," she said running ahead of Luke to the restaurant. It was a casual setting thankfully and since it was the early evening, it was crowded with people who were looking for dinner.

Luke and Leia scanned the restaurant and then spotted a tired looking man with short graying red hair and a long mustache across his face. He was wearing old and worn brown robes and he looked like he was waiting on someone.

"I think that's our guy," Luke said ignoring the feeling he had that he and Leia needed to run out of here and get off Alderaan as fast as they could. They weren't going to be here long. They were going to get this info on the Death Star and get out.

They went to the table at the back on the room. When they were standing over him, the man looked up and raised an eyebrow skeptically.

"Kyle and Kyla?" he asked.

"Tytus, right?" Leia asked cautiously.

Tytus blew out a sigh of relief and gestured for the two to sit down. Threepio took a seat near them and Artoo rolled over to stand next to him.

"I was afraid you might not come," Tytus said.

"We just barely got to the planet in time. We were kind of drifting around trying to find something to do when you contacted us," Leia said and Luke noted she had taken on her diplomatic princess demeanor and voice. Luke was convinced she had royal and political blood in her somewhere. She wasn't even curious about what kind of food Alderaan had which was usually the first thing she asked when they came anywhere near a restaurant on a new planet.

"I figured," Tytus said and then began to lower his voice. "When I heard about you two and your endeavors, I figured you might be curious about this secret little Imp project."

Luke leaned forward to listen as Leia spoke.

"We've known about it for years. But the project it so hush-hush, it's hard to get anything on it except the bits and pieces we come across when we stumble onto a mining facility or the empire trying to clear out the population of a planet or something," Leia said trying to keep the anger out her voice on the last part.

Luke understood her rage. The empire had once tried to wipe out an entire planet's population with a fatal virus in order to get a rare energy source that the planet abounded in. They would have never known about it had Leia not gotten sick from the virus, forcing Luke and Han to sneak into a secret imperial laboratory to find out what was going on. Luke would never forget that day. It was the day Darth Vader helped him release the cure before the virus could make a devastating blow.

"It's a very hush-hush project, but I know someone who works for the empire and is working on the project… gave me the location and schematics of the project."

Luke and Leia's jaw dropped.

"You're serious," Luke asked in disbelief. They hadn't had any leads on the death star in almost a year, since they stopped that massive genocide.

"Yeah," Tytus said. "Their building it over a slave and prison planet called Despayre. No one knows it's there after the attempts of sabotage on the damn thing. If someone doesn't get to it and destroy it, the thing will be complete in a matter of… maybe three or four years."

"Then we've got a lot of time," Leia said in relief.

Tytus laughed. "Not with a monstrosity like that. It will take months of planning and looking over the schematics to find a way to destroy that thing."

"Where are the schematics?" Luke asked.

Tytus pulled out a small data-chip. "It's right here," he said patting a pocket on his robes. "I never leave without it. Just in case."

"Can you make a copy of it?" Luke asked.

"Too dangerous. If the empire gets wiff that the plan for the most secret project in history is floating around, we'll never get to it," Tytus replied.

Luke grinned. "You don't know me and my sister then. It won't take us long to sabotage it beyond repair. Destroying imperial projects is our specialty."

"Siblings?" Tytus asked.

Leia shook her head. "Term of endearment. We're not really related."

"Not with this one young one," Tytus said sitting back casually. "In fact, you should come with me on my ship and we'll go somewhere secret where we can plan this whole thing out. I rented a house here for a couple of days just in case."

Alarms went up in Luke's head. Something about the way Tytus said that didn't fly right with him. It was like he was trying to persuade them more than suggesting it, like he really didn't want them to say no for some reason. Before he could call the man out o it though, Leia responded.

"No thanks. We work alone for the most part. It's easier that way, but we'd appreciate it if you'd let us download the data onto my datapad so we can get a move on and head to Despayre."

Tytus started to say something but Luke saw something out the corner of his eye and turned to look near the door. He turned back around slowly.

"Stang," he muttered and Leia looked at him, startled by his sudden exclamation.

"What?" she asked starting to turn around but Luke stopped her.

"We have an imperial problem," Luke said. "Troopers."

Leia froze. "You think they know we're here?"

"I don't know," Luke said. "Maybe they're on some other mission. Maybe their looking for someone else."

"I doubt they'd care. Come on. We have to go. Let's try the back door," Leia said starting to get up.

"And practically alert them when they see us rushing out the back door. Let's just act natural and maybe they won't notice us," Luke said.

"I'll go with you. Maybe I can help," Tytus said.

Luke doubted it but let him come anyway. He pushed the droids forward first and then they started to walk by as the storm trooper spoke to someone else, but another just outside the restaurant stopped them.

"Stop right there," he said. "I need some ID."

Luke and Leia looked at each other. Neither of them had an updated ID since they left Tatooine. They started to prepare themselves to fight their way off of Alderaan, but Tytus spoke to the trooper.

"We aren't the people you're looking for," he said.

"You aren't the people we're looking for," the trooper repeated.

"We can go about our business."

"You can go about your business," the trooper said and went to another person.

Luke and Leia stared at Tytus in awe and wary.

"How did you do that?" they both asked.

"An old trick I haven't used in a while," the man said laughing.

_That's impossible, _Leia sent to Luke. _The only way he could have done that was with the force maybe and we don't know because we can't do that!_

_But… _Luke trailed off.

"Wait a minute," he said as he remembered where he had seen those robes before. "You're a jedi."

Tytus smiled. "I was wondering when you would figure it out," he said.

Luke almost forgot all his previous worry over the man.

"Just like your father Luke," he said startling them both.

"How did you-?"

"Well of course most of the jedi knew about the surviving son of one of the most powerful jedi in the order," Tytus said with a smile.

Leia looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Wait a minute. You mean-."

Tytus shook his head. "Not here. Let's go to a more secure location."

Both Luke and Leia figured that it was worth staying on Alderaan for a while if they could find out about Luke's past and maybe if he knew something about Luke's father, he knew something about Leia's family too. They followed by their droids went with the man to the home he had rented. As Luke walked in and sat down in the open and furnished living room, something felt very wrong, but he couldn't put his finger on what it was.

"So you knew Luke's father," Leia asked ignoring the warning in the back of her mind. This man was a jedi. What could possibly be wrong here?

"The whole galaxy knew him," Tytus said bringing in two sodas for them and some water for himself. "He was the most famous jedi in the galaxy during the clone wars."

"Who?" Luke asked excitedly.

"Anakin Skywalker," Tytus replied.

Artoo began to beep excitedly then he turned his one eye to Luke and Threepio whistling and beeping happily.

"Well you certainly were right Artoo. And to think," Threepio said in shock. "I didn't believe you, but with good reason. So we really did belong to him at one time?"

Artoo beeped something else.

"Master Luke's father is the maker? Well I'll be darned Artoo."

"Anakin Skywalker?" Luke said. "You're kidding."

"There aren't many Skywalker's in this galaxy. He's the one and only," Tytus said nodding.

"I told you. You look just like him," Leia said. "Remember on Naboo?"

"Well how was I supposed know. Besides. He looked so young," Luke pointed out. "How old was he when he died?"

"Twenty-three. Right before you were born," Tytus said.

"So… Did you know my mother? Did you know who she was?"

"Can't tell you that. But you are your father's son. Probably inherited his force sensitivity too. Bet you're a real prodigy," Tytus said. "I've been trying to get into contact with you for a while now. Tripped me up a little with that brown hair though."

"So you knew we weren't related from the beginning," Leia asked.

Tytus nodded.

"But maybe you knew Leia's parents," Luke suggested. "She's the one who really needs to know. She's force sensitive too."

Tytus looked at Leia and then shook his head. "Can't say I knew your parents."

Leia shrugged. "That's okay. At least Luke knows now."

_You're lying, _Luke sent. _It's not okay. You really want to know._

_At least I have something from my mother. You have nothing from your dad except his force powers. But at least now you know his name, _Leia replied starting to fiddle with her japor snippet. _And…_

_What? _Luke asked curiously having a feeling this was something he hadn't heard from her before.

_I remember how he felt, my dad's force presence. Just this feeling. I remember the brush of his presence. In fact, he felt a little like you, _Leia admitted.

"I'll tell you what. Why don't you stay here for the night and then we can set out tomorrow for the Death Star. On our way I can show you some ways to use the force," Tytus said.

Luke and Leia exchanged a look.

_What do you think? _Leia asked.

_I don't know Leia… I know he knew my father and stuff, but there's still something about him…_

_It might be our only chance to learn how to use the force formally though. Think of what we can do with a little training, _Leia asked.

Luke crossed his arms and stared ahead with a pensive expression before nodding his head.

"Okay," he said. "We'll head out tomorrow. Maybe by then the empire will have left," Luke said.

Tytus gave them both rooms and Luke prepared to settle down for the night. Since he had no clothes to change into, he took off his tops and slid into bed. Ten minutes later, he pulled the covers back and Leia crawled into bed next to him. She never could sleep by herself in a strange place.

"Night Luke," she said.

"Night Leia," he replied closing his eyes.

xxxxxxxxxxxx

_Luke… Luke. Wake up. You and Leia need to get away._

Luke slowly opened his eyes, the soft female voice he was hearing rousing him out of his sleep. He saw a bright glowing light in front of him and recognized it as Leia's spirit friend. It was trying to tell him something.

Luke shrugged."I don't know what you're saying. Was that you in my head earlier?"

It bounced up and down. Luke took it as a yes.

"Why?"

The light darted out the room and Luke got out of bed, careful not to rouse Leia. He pulled on one of his shirts as he followed the light down the hall to a door.

Luke twisted the knob and looked at the spirit. "It's locked."

The light floated in front of the door for a moment and then Luke heard a click. He opened the door and started to go in, but stopped abruptly at the sight. Dead people were in the room, not old bodies, but fresh, a couple of adult and a few teenagers. Luke looked closer at the wounds on them. They looked like they were sliced by swords or something… like a light saber.

"Shit…" Luke said, dread filling him. He should have trusted his feeling and left earlier. He began to back out the room, pulling the door close.

"Shit, shit, shit, fuck," Luke said and then a whole bunch of other obscenities in a few different languages. He rushed back to his and Leia's room, the spirit right behind him. "Oh force…."

He looked around the room and stretched out with his senses to make sure the man wasn't in the room and then closed the door.

"Leia," he said shaking her. "Wake up right now."

"Luke, stop it. Go back to sleep. It's still dark," Leia replied.

Luke shook her harder. "This is kriffing serious Leia. Get up now. We have to get out of here. Something's not right about Tytus. I think he killed the people that used to live here."

Leia sat up leaning on her elbow. "What?"

"I found kriffing dead bodies Leia. We have to leave now!"

"But he's a jedi," Leia said though she got out of bed and reached for her shoes as Luke pulled on his tunic.

"That may be so, but something's not right about him. We have to get out of here," Luke said pulling his belt on. He went over to the corner where Threepio and Artoo were, turning them both on.

"Master Luke," Threepio started. "What-?"

"No questions you two. We have to go right now."

Leia still didn't understand Luke's hurry, but she guessed it might have something to do with the feeling she had all night being in this place. The fact that her spirit was there meant something was wrong. The light was guiding them out the house. Luke and Leia started through the living room and then stopped cold when they heard the a _snap hiss_ sound followed by a steady hum.

They turned around to find Tytus standing in front of the sofa with his blue light saber lit.

_I've got a bad feeling about this, _Luke and Leia thought to each other simultaneously.

"Where are you going?"

"We're leaving," Luke said. "Something's not right about you.

"You aren't going anywhere. Not until I have my revenge," Tytus said.

"What are you talking about?" Leia asked. "We haven't done anything to you."

"Not you darling. Him… Luke Skywalker. You really don't know who your father is do you?" Tytus asked.

"He's Anakin Skywalker right?" Luke asked carefully keeping Leia behind him.

"He's much more than that. He's a mass murderer. A monster," Tytus yelled.

"You just said he was a jedi. He was a hero in the clone wars," Luke said confused. "What are you talking about?"

"Things change. Nothing is set in stone Skywalker. I'll have my revenge," Tytus said starting slowly towards them.

"Revenge? For what?" Luke yelled sincerely hoping this wasn't a story of envy like the holovision shows Leia sometimes watched.

"For the destruction of the jedi. It was all your father's fault," Tytus yelled.

Luke backed up. _Leia. Get out of here._

_I'm not leaving you, _Leia declared.

_Leia!_ Luke didn't have time to scold her. Tytus came after them.

Leia screamed. Threepio made a loud shrill noise and Artoo whistled loudly in alarm. All of them ducked out the way. Tytus striking the walk they had just been in front of. He didn't even look at Leia and the droids though. He went straight after Luke who was huddled in the corner.

"Luke!" Leia yelled and the boy scrambled out the way of the blade.

"Leia. Get out of here," Luke shouted as he ducked behind the counter.

"I'm not leaving you here," Leia said pulling out her blaster. She shot at Tytus and the man turned around blocking her bolts.

Tytus round on her and Leia barely missed having her head lopped off.

"Leia!" Luke shouted and then ran at Tytus. He knocked the man down making him drop his light saber. Luke got up and helped Leia up off the ground.

"Artoo, Threepio, let's go!"

"You don't have to tell me twice Master Luke," Threepio said hurrying towards them.

They stepped over the broken table and toward the door but then Tytus flipped over them and was in front of them.

"Where are you going?"

The man raised his light saber and started to strike at them. But suddenly, he changed course and turned around to meet a green light saber.

"Luke, Leia. Get out of here," a voice said.

Luke recognized the voice and said in disbelief. "Ben? Old Ben Kenobi?"

"Leave now," he shouted again as he forced pushed Tytus out the way.

"You heard him Luke," Leia said. "Come on."

"Wait a minute," Luke said stopping to look at Ben. "You were a jedi all along?"

"There will be time for questions later. Take this and run," Ben said handing Luke a cylinder shaped object.

"What?" Luke asked as Leia started to pull him out the door.

"It was your father's. He'd want you to have it. Go!"

Luke started to run away from the house, holding Leia's hand to make sure she stayed with him the entire time. Leia stopped.

"Look. There's a speeder. Let's go," Leia said pulling Luke toward the speeder that was parked in front of the house. They jumped in it and after Luke hoisted Artoo in, he rigged the speeder, silently asking the force to forgive him and bless the people the speeder belonged to with another.

They sped off into the night.

"Damn it," Luke said when they stopped in front of fuel station. "I knew it. We should have left as soon as I got that feeling. If only I hadn't been so stupid."

Leia sighed as she got out the speeder. "It's not a crime to want to know your father. If anything, I shouldn't have pushed you to come here to learn more about the death star. Who knows if he was telling the truth anyway? It was probably just a ploy to get us here."

"No," Luke said. "There was some truth in-."

Leia turned to look at Luke. "What's wrong?"

"Sh," Luke said looking very pale all of a sudden.

"What?" Leia asked and then stopped when she heard the sound. "What's that?"

"We meet again child," said a deep mechanical voice. "And this time your sister is with you."

Leia slowly turned around and came face to face with Darth Vader. She tilted her head back to look at his mask. He was certainly tall.

"Aw come on," Luke said out loud, really speaking to the force.

"What does he mean again?" Leia asked looking at Luke.

Luke cleared his throat. "We might have met before…"

"You didn't tell me this," Leia said raising her voice.

"No time Leia. Get in the speeder," Luke said pulling the girl in the speeder. Leia barely got her legs in and her door closed before Luke sped off.

"When did you meet Darth Vader?" Leia demanded as he drove.

"Not now Leia. He's behind us isn't he?"

Leia turned around and sure enough Darth Vader was in pursuit of the flanked by three imperial speeder.

"Uh-oh," Leia said reaching for her blaster. She shot at one of the ones flanking Vader and missed. "You're going too fast. I can't get them."

"Then we'll lose them," Luke shouted speeding up.

"Is this going to be Naboo all over again?" Leia shouted strapping herself in.

"Probably, except this time we're leading him to the palace," Luke said.

"Why?"

"Because if we do that, he'll think someone in the palace hid us and we'll gain some time," Luke explained.

"How do you know that?"

"I don't. Besides, he'll have to be alive first. No way he can keep up with me," Luke yelled as he sped up, getting into the busy night section of the city.

Leia instinctively clutched her japor snippet as Luke made and impossible sharp turn in a busy intersection. Leia turned around to look. One of the speeders crashed into another while trying to make the turn. The other couldn't slow down in time and kept going straight but Vader…

"He's still behind us," Leia informed.

"Lucky shot," Luke muttered. "Not for long."

Luke turned into a one way street and Leia screamed.

"Master Luke!" Threepio said startling Leia. She had forgotten the droids were there. "This is a one way street and according to my databases…"

"Shut up Threepio," Luke and Leia snapped, also becoming aware of Artoo's whistles of excitement.

When they pulled out the street Leia turned around and muttered an obscenity.

"He's still behind us," she said.

Luke chanced a glance back. "No way!"

"Luke watched where you're going," Leia yelled.

"Do you want to drive?" Luke snapped.

"There's the palace," Leia said.

Luke slowed down significantly and pulled up in the middle of the palace gardens with an abrupt stop.

"Oh my master Luke. May I request that next time-."

"Be quiet," Luke, Leia, and Artoo snapped as they ran behind a large bush.

_Where's Vader? _Leia asked.

_I don't hear him, _Luke replied.

They stayed there for a moment before deciding it was worth risking it to get back in the speeder and get back to their ship. The two teenagers and the two droids got back into the speeder and this time observing the rules of the road thanks to Leia driving, they headed to the parking dock.

"Stang," Luke said pounding his fist on the door. "A jedi and a sith after us…"

"Make that two jedi," Leia said.

"No. That other jedi was an old man I knew on Tatooine. Ben Kenobi. He let us get away."

"So he could come finish us off himself?" Leia shot.

Luke rolled his eyes. Leia had a bad habit of generalizing people. When one person in a particular group was bad, they were all bad unless she knew otherwise.

"Well I think-."

Artoo started to speak and Luke turned around to hear him.

"Slow down Artoo. I can't understand you," Luke said and then finally gave up. "Threepio. What's he saying?"

Threepio started to respond but Leia stopped in from of the docking bay. Luke turned around and shook his head.

"Let's get out of here Leia. I have a bad feeling about all of this," he said.

"And go where?" Leia asked getting out the speeder. "We have to get off Alderaan right now."

"I know… but I just have this feeling," Luke insisted solemnly.

Leia sighed. "I do too, but what else can we do. We have to get out of here and getting back to the Amidala might be our only chance."

Luke nodded and helped Artoo out the speeder. Leia was already at the door using the comm. to try to get into contact with the owner.

"That's odd," she muttered. "He's not answering."

Leia moved her hand over the lock and pushed into the building. Luke followed behind her with Threepio and Artoo.

"Miss Leia, perhaps we should just wait outside…"

"We can't Threepio. We have to get off this planet," Luke said before Leia could snap a reply.

They took the elevator up to the level their ship was parked. As soon as they were in the place, they regretted it. The sound of mechanical breathing met their ears.

_I don't believe this. He actually outsmarted us, _Luke sent to Leia who was equally shocked. No one could outsmart them unless they were equally as mischievous and cunning or more…

"It's no use trying to escape now children," Vader said smugly. He had invented the diversion tactic. Lead someone to the place you didn't want them to go and when they were there go to your actual destination. He had pulled it many times in his youth in the jedi temple.

"Leave them alone Vader," another voice said.

"Ben," Luke yelled and the old jedi smiled at him.

Darth Vader groaned in his mask. He would no doubt lose the children again now. A fully trained jedi took precedence over two very force strong children.

"So we meet again Obi-Wan," he said turning to him. "And so you know the children know you."

"Actually," Leia said despite Luke warning her not to. "I've never met either of you, although everyone knows who Darth Vader is. My brother on the other hand seems to be very familiar with the two of you," Leia said glaring at Luke.

Luke decided explaining all this to Leia could wait as he practically dragged her to their ship. Vader was distracted with Ben so this was their chance. As he pulled down the ramp, he heard the clashing of what sounded like swords. He pushed Leia up the ramp and then let Threepio and Artoo up the ramp. Leia ran to go start the ship but stopped when she heard the voice of Tytus at the bottom of the ramp.

"Where do you think you're going child?" he asked Luke.

"Luke!" Leia yelled and turned to Artoo and Threepio. "Hurry up. Start the ship."

"I have you now," Tytus yelled turning on his light saber getting ready to strike Luke.

"No!" Leia yelled.

But Luke's hand suddenly went to his belt to grab not the blaster, but the light saber Ben had given him, the one he had forgotten was there. He turned it on and raised it with both hands to meet Tytus' blade. Tytus looked shock.

"Luke," Leia muttered in awe and then she saw the vision of an older Luke in black clothing with a light saber in his hand, but this time it was green. Luke was meant to be holding a light saber…

Her awe was short lived though as she felt Luke's pain as he struggled to hold off the strike. Then Tytus pushed Luke back and swiped at his right wrist.

Leia felt Luke's pain as though it had been her own and screamed along with him. Luke fell to his knees and Tytus prepared to make the killing blow.

"No," Leia screamed summoning all her anger and fear into a burning inferno as she summoned Luke's fallen blade to her hand. Then with a speed and grace she didn't know she possessed, she blocked the strike and used the force to toss Tytus flying _through_ the opposite wall.

The backlash in the force was so strong that Obi-Wan and Vader stopped their fight as they struggled to gain the wind that had literally been knocked out of them.

Leia dragged Luke, who was clutching his wrist, up the ramp as it closed, shouting to Artoo and Threepio, "Take off. Get away from Alderaan, far away. I don't care where you go! Just get away from here."

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

As Vader stared after the ship in shock at the strength the girl had displayed in the dark side on the force that he didn't notice Obi-Wan slip away until it was too late to do anything about it. Vader gripped his light saber tightly in anger and decided he would deal with the consequences of Obi-Wan's escape later. Instead, he went over to the pile of rubble where the jedi he had seen earlier had crashed and moved the rocks around with the force. The jedi wasn't there. He could only assume since the jedi was so intent on finding the children, he had followed them. So Vader would also follow the children and kill two birds with one stone.

The girl was probably so distressed over her brother, she had definitely called him Luke, that she wouldn't even assume that they were being tracked.

Meanwhile, Obi-Wan made his way back to the palace, hoping he could get off of Alderaan before Vader got there. No doubt Vader was going after the children and knew where they were. But Obi-Wan didn't and so that meant he could only go to one place; Dagobah. No doubt Yoda would fuss at him for losing the children in the first place and telling the old master so late. Obi-Wan sighed. It was going to be a long few weeks.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_In the next chapter, Luke and Leia are on Dathomir, but with Luke out of commission because of his missing hand, Leia has to call whether to stay there and wait for him to get better or leave asap. But when Leia meets a tribe dominated by female force users, she takes the opportunity to get their help and heal Luke. However, she starts to regret ever taking him there when she finds out men are used as slaves and seen less than woman. Leia can't wait to leave and have nothing more to do with the tribe afterwards, but when Tytus finds them, they're force to stay and defend the tribe despite the fact that Leia rather them get their just desserts for condoning slavery. However, Luke and Leia are no match for a fully trained dark jedi and help comes from the most unexpected person Leia could have ever thought: Darth Vader himself…_

AN: So what did you think? Luke losing his hands is like a rite of passage or something to me in the movies, so I have about a hundred different ways Luke can lose his hand in a fanfic. Anyway, I probably needed to get started looking at the next chapter now because that mammoth of a chapter is ten thousand words! Hope you enjoyed. Review please!


	11. Dathomir

This was one of my favorite chapters to write and I didn't even notice it was ten thousand words until I finished it… Anyway, this is the last chapter of this arc. I decided there are three parts to this story and this chapter concludes the first part. I could keep it going, but this one story is getting too big and I don't want to intimidate future readers with such a long story. But don't worry, Light of Liberty is far from over. Just look for the next arc during regular update time as a separate story, but it's really not. Anyway, if you still don't understand go to my fanfiction blog. I explain it a little better there.

Read, Enjoy, and Review!

xxxxxxxxxxxx

**Chapter Eleven**

**Dathomir**

Leia sighed as she leaned her chin on her fist carefully watching Luke who was asleep. It had taken her hours to break the fever that had come as a result of the shock Luke's body had gone through as a result of his perfectly healthy hand being cut away. It had also taken about that long before that to stop the bleeding. After trying in vain to talk him into some sort of calm, she finally just brushed her presence across his senses and managed to convince him to rest.

Leia herself needed some rest. She had been up for hours, but the fact that she couldn't understand why someone would want to hurt someone as innocent as Luke kept her awake. Well maybe not so innocent. They had done a lot of things, but they never caused good people harm. Luke even had tolerance for people who probably deserved to die a death in a sarlacc ten times over. If anything, Leia though she was the one who deserved to be punished if either of them had to be. She gave just about _everybody_ a hard time if they got in her way and didn't give a second thought trying to figure out who was who like Luke did. He shouldn't be blamed for something his father did.

That was another thing that puzzled her. If Luke's father was Anakin Skywalker, then why would someone want revenge on him? What could the man have done that was so horrible that his son had to pay even after he was long dead? Leia had searched and searched in the databases the ship could link up to. There wasn't much on him personally. But all she had to do was type in the history of the clone wars and his name practically came up with it. He had been a war hero before the jedi had been declared traitors, and thinking back on how Tytus had come after Luke, maybe they had been. Maybe Luke's father had seen through the jedi's lies and turned on them. That might explain why there was no real explanation to his death. According to the records he had disappeared and was assumed dead like all the other jedi. Perhaps even the jedi had stolen Luke away from his mother. Leia believed her assumptions would certainly explain why Luke didn't know anything about his parents. Surely his father had to be familiar Luke's mother during her pregnancy for her to give Luke his father's name. Death was the only reason a in her eyes that a good man wouldn't seek out his own son or any child for that matter.

"Oh Luke," Leia muttered. She always thought out of the two of them, she was the one who had the harder life. But maybe it was Luke and he just didn't know the entire story.

Leia sighed as she finally stood up and got ready to set out to see where they were. She went to the cockpit and checked their coordinates before determining that they were in the outer rim, on Dathomir. Now where had she heard that name before?

"Threepio, you stay with Luke and the ship. Me and Artoo will scout the place. We may have to be here for a while until I can figure out what we're going to do," Leia said though she was sure of one thing. They were going to have to find somewhere to get Luke a prosthetic hand.

She let down the ramp and started down it with Artoo at her side. No sooner than she stepped off the ramp onto the forest terrain though, her senses went off and she lifted her blaster only to be surrounded by five or so woman with long spear wooden staffs riding rancors. Actually, they looked like female warriors.

Leia started to pull the trigger on her blaster so she could run back onto the ship and take off, but stopped herself as Luke's words came back to her.

_You're too distrustful and wary of people. It clouds your senses._

Leia hooked her blaster and raised her arms in surrender when she felt that the woman meant her no harm, but they only sought to protect their territory.

"What are you doing here?" the one in the front, obviously the leader snapped.

Leia started to snap back a response, but then she imagined Luke standing next to her and giving her a mental warning to be nice. She sighed.

"I'm sorry for intruding. I didn't know people lived here. I just needed a place to hide that was far away from the core," Leia explained softly.

"Who are you hiding from?"

Leia looked down and then looked back up. "The empire."

The woman stared at her for a moment and then jumped off her rancor before coming to stand before Leia. It was then Leia took in the woman's appearance. She was taller than Leia and more muscularly built with dark tanned skinned. In fact all of them were pretty much build the same, maybe slightly shorter or slimmer with tanned skin.

"Something troubles you my child," she said.

Leia started to say that she was no one's child but held her tongue. She put her hands down, confident the woman wouldn't hurt her, and it was in that moment that she completely let her guard down that she realized the woman was force sensitive. In fact, all of them were.

"It's my brother," Leia said. "We were attacked and he needs medical attention. More than I can give anyway."

The woman didn't hesitate as she gestured to one of the other warriors.

"Go get something to carry the boy in so we do not disturb him anymore than we need to." the woman rushed off on her rancor. "I will help you retrieve your brother."

The woman came right back and with the leader's help, Leia laid Luke down on a makeshift medical capsule made of animal skin and thick branches. They tied him to the saddles between two rancor and began to make their way out the forest to a coastal area that was their village.

Leia made sure Threepio and Artoo stayed with her so that they wouldn't get lost.

It was night on the planet and so when they arrived in the village, Leia couldn't see anyone. But she did notice no men were out helping the woman…

Leia watched carefully as the women warriors lowered Luke down and took him into a hut. Leia followed. By the time she was in, they had already carefully lied him down and one of the males was tending to him using herbs she didn't know the names of to make a tea.

"Come child," the woman said. "I will take you somewhere more comfortable where you may rest."

Leia took one last look at Luke and then stepped out the hut. Threepio was making loud gasping sounds as Artoo said something.

"Why Artoo, that isn't polite!"

"What are you too talking about?" Leia asked with her arms crossed.

"Oh nothing Miss Leia. A bunch of nonsense…"

"Your name is Leia?" the woman asked her and Leia nodded. "I am Akilah, the lead hunter of my clan. I will take you to mother. She will want to see you."

"Mother?" Leia asked.

"Our matriarch," Akilah said and led her to the largest hut in the village. Akilah ushered her inside and Leia went into the hut that was brightly lit by candles and walked to stand before the matriarch followed by Akilah. She was dressed much more elaborately than what she had seen the other warriors wear. She was older too. She didn't look older than maybe forty, a very fit one at that, but she felt older, wiser.

"Hello child," the woman said and Leia swore if one more person called her a child she'd snap. "What is your name?"

"Leia," the teenager said and then pointed behind her. "And these are my droids, Threepio and Artoo.

The woman hummed. "My name is Nadiyya. I am the mother of this tribe. Your ship caused quite the ruckus when it landed."

"My apologies Mother Nadiyya," Leia said with a slight bow of her head. "I wasn't really paying attention. I was concerned about my brother."

"Ah yes. Well you should not worry. He is in good hands," she assured and then turned to Akilah. "I like this one."

Leia assumed when she said 'this one' she meant Leia being an outsider.

"She is polite yet firm, confident, fearless even. Make sure she is taken care of. Give her an empty hut to rest in for the night," Nadiyya said.

"If you don't mind," Leia said quickly. "I'd like it if I could spend the night with my brother."

"I assure you Leia. No harm will come to him."

With that, Akilah led Leia out the room. As Akilah led Leia to a hut, she looked at her in confusion.

"You would dare lower yourself and sleep in the same room as your brother?" she asked softly.

Leia laughed. Was it true that real siblings really didn't get along that well and therefore it was surprising she was so concerned? "Sure. Why do you ask?"

Akilah shrugged and stopped at a hut. Leia smiled and gave her thanks as she left before telling the two droids to shut down and lying down on the mat for a well deserved rest.

The next morning, Leia could tell she had slept a long time because she could hear the bustling of the village. She grabbed the bag she had packed the night before intending to ask someone where she could bathe.

"Oh Miss Leia. You're awake. Me and Artoo were going to go and check on Master Luke, but we weren't sure if this village took kindly to droids.

Artoo made a dry response.

"Alright so I was worried, but it never hurts to be too cautious," Threepio said.

Leia smiled and shook her head. "I'm going to find someone to show me where I can clean up. You two stay here and when I come back, we'll check on Luke."

Leia turned around, stepped out the hut and then froze at the first thing she saw. The village looked different during the day than at night, but that wasn't what caught her attention. She had wondered why she didn't see any men last night and now she knew why as she finally saw them. The men wore nothing but aprons or tunics. Most of them were working, doing the hard labor of the village, while the woman were either sparring or doing some kind of physical training. With startling clarity Leia realized that the men were the slaves of this clan. She stared in shock, disbelief, and then anger. She wasn't exactly a fan of men but no one deserved to be a slave. So that was why Akilah had been so confused.

"Are you okay?"

Another woman's voice startled Leia out her stupor and she looked to see a girl a little older than her before her.

"Oh. I'm fine…" Leia lied pushing her anger aside.

"I'm Riya. Mother sent me to aid you. You're looking for somewhere to bathe?" Riya asked.

Leia nodded and followed the girl into the forest. It wasn't long before she showed her a small stream. Leia nodded her thanks and the girl walked away to leave her to clean. As Leia cleaned herself up and put on some clean clothes, she determined that if this tribe made their men slaves, then she and Luke weren't going to be staying very long.

She grabbed her things and headed back to the hut where Artoo and Threepio were waiting for her. She then led them back to the hut she had last seen Luke. He was awake and very annoyed by something by what she was picking up.

"I'm fine," he was telling the healer. "Can I please go find my-. Leia!"

Leia grinned when saw Luke awake, sitting up on the mat that had been his bed. She sat on the ground next to him and then smiled at the healer.

"Hello," she said and the man, who was only wearing a tunic, looked at her seeming shocked before leaving the hut.

"So how are you?" Leia asked carefully.

"Fine. Much better than I felt before that's for sure," Luke added dryly.

Leia shook her head. "No, I mean…" Leia nodded her head to the bandaged stub and Luke looked down at it before wincing a little and then shrugging carelessly.

"I don't know. It's weird not having it there. I never thought it wasn't going to be there you know?" Luke asked. He had never thought of the possibility of losing it. "I still feel the pain and everything. I never thought I would miss my hand so much."

Leia sighed. She couldn't even imagine what it was like. On second thought, she could. Leia had felt Luke's pain as though it had been her own hand. Her right hand had been feeling numb ever since in fact.

"Well, as soon as we get out of here, we're going to go get the best prosthetic hand available for that," Leia declared and then added, "Looks like I'll be piloting for a while."

"Where is here anyway?" Luke said looking around. "It's strange." That was the only way he could put it. From what he could gather, the men were subjected to the women.

"We're on Dathomir and I think I've heard of these women," Leia said.

"That explains a lot. The women are called the Witches of Dathomir. I heard about it from one of the nearby planets when we were this way a few months ago. I was curious and thought about stopping by until I asked around and I heard who lived here. I didn't think it would be wise to let Han come to a matriarchal village," Luke said.

"Why do they call them witches?"

Luke shrugged. "Something about using magic."

"They're force sensitive," Leia corrected. "But it doesn't matter. We're leaving in the morning."

"Why such a rush? I thought you'd love having the advantage over me," Luke said jokingly.

"Luke," Leia said seriously. "It's not funny. This society isn't just ruled by woman. They make the men slaves."

"Well that certainly explains why that woman that came in here didn't ever look at me or call me by my name even when told her my fake one," Luke said dryly. "It's that bad?"

Leia sighed. "Luke. I saw things like this on other slave planets except it was usually the women they had catering to the men's every whim and parading them around half naked. But here, it's the opposite."

Leia wasn't saying it but Luke felt what she meant.

"Brings all that hate for men into perspective, doesn't it?" he asked.

Leia nodded and got up. "I'm going to tell the mother that we're leaving tomorrow. I can't stand being here too much longer."

Luke sighed. "You know Leia. We could just-."

"No we can't," Leia said cutting him off, and feeling Luke's shock continued, "This isn't just a right or wrong situation here. You won't believe the things I felt this morning when I saw it and how much I got from it. Those men didn't care that they were slaves. I don't think any of them know what freedom for a man is. It's a way of life for them and I don't think we could help them if we tried. They wouldn't know what to do."

"You think?" Luke asked leaning back on the wall.

Leia sighed as she nodded. "This is how these people have probably been living for centuries. Who am I to change it?"

She got up and sighed. "I'll see you later. I'm going to find the mother. Get some rest. And before I forget," she added taking the light saber off her belt and handing it to him, "This is yours."

Artoo and Threepio didn't follow her and she knew why. They were known to seek out Luke's protection when Leia was in a bad mood.

Luke only nodded and Leia tried to reassure him as she felt his concern in the force. Then she went out and headed toward the large hut in the middle of the village. She took a step back on her way as a group of young children, boys and girls, ran past her. They were only three or four, but even then Leia could see the way the girls were being taught to master the boys as she saw them demand that they play their way because they were girls.

She walked into the hut and bumped into Riya.

"Oh there you are," Riya said. "Mother has invited you to come have lunch with her. "

"I was just looking for her," Leia said following Riya into a dining room that was in the large hut. There was a short table and Nadiyya was kneeling at the head of it waiting for Leia presumable along with Akilah and some other woman. Nadiyya gestured for Leia to sit next to her.

Leia did so and nodded her head in acknowledgement.

"You've rested well I hope," she said as the servants, male Leia again noted, served the food.

"Yes mother," Leia replied picking up a piece of fruit only after mother had done the same. She never knew where she learned table etiquette for these kinds of setting from but there was always a voice in her head telling her what to do.

"And have you seen your brother?" she asked.

"Yes," Leia said. "He's fine. In fact, he's feeling much better. Why don't I go get him and he can join us."

There was stunned silence at the table until mother chuckled.

"You are pardoned child since you are not familiar with our customs," she said and Leia looked at the old matriarch in confusion.

"What are you talking about?"

"We don't allow men the honor of sitting at our table with us to dine. They serve us first and then they are allowed to take part of their own meal. Your brother will eat where he is," Akilah said sharply.

Leia glared at her. "My brother isn't my slave. He's my best friend and what kind of friend would I be to sit here and he's not welcome."

"In our society dear, men are the weaker sex."

"And because they're weaker you use them for hard labor and I assume breeding purposes?" Leia snapped.

"It keeps them from becoming lazy my dear. We could do it ourselves otherwise," mother replied.

"Well where I come from, men and woman share the work and relate to each other as equals. Luke and I are a team and I doubt I would be as strong without him if I thought the way you do," Leia said feeling her temper get the best of her.

"Perhaps mother we can let Leia stay and observe for herself. Then she can decide if she still wants to believe that," Riya suggested.

Leia stood up abruptly from the table even though she was sure it was rude. "No thanks. I'm not trying to make you come over to my side so I'd appreciate it if you did the same. I've seen enough and not just here."

Leia started to leave and then turned to mother. "I came to tell you that Luke and I would be leaving in the morning however we may very well be going tonight. My apologies," she said with the tilt of her head in a bow. Then she stormed out the room and eventually the hut and walked over to Luke's hut and stormed inside to see him talking to Threepio.

Luke grinned. "I take it you lost your temper?"

"How'd you know?" Leia asked dryly.

Luke turned back to Artoo. "We're linked. Remember?"

Leia smiled and sat next to him.

"I don't know how much long I can stay here," Leia told him. "I might end up killing someone. If they think of men as inferior then I don't want to see how they are treated. I was thinking we might want to leave tonight instead.

"Works for me," Luke said getting up. "I'm bored just sitting here anyway. You think they have anything we can do around here?"

Artoo made suggestion and Luke grinned. "Now that sounds cool. Let's go."

"What's so cool about watching two women spar each other?" Leia asked having caught Artoo's suggestion.

"Well, you felt it. They're force users. They must know something. I bet we could learn a lot from them," Luke said in excitement as he bounded out the hut. Leia quickly followed him to make sure no one bothered him.

Luke was already in the sparring area and watching two women in particular fight. Leia noticed Akilah was one of them.

"What's with their sticks?" Luke asked.

"What are you talking about?" Leia asked.

Luke pointed to one of the sticks. "There's a faint glow around them. It gives off the energy of a light saber."

Leia tapped into her powers to see what Luke meant and then noticed the faint glow of the force around the long wooden staff the women were using. She shrugged to Luke, about as clueless as he was.

"Any questions?" Akilah asked after she took down her sparring partner. It was then the two noticed the group of young girl on the other side that had been watching.

"I have one," Luke said running onto the other side of the field eager to find out more about the force.

_Luke no!_ Leia sent but Luke was ignoring her. She ran behind him. What part of a matriarchal society that used men as their slaves didn't Luke understand? The impulsive part of him, Leia thought as she tried to stop him. But he was already in front of Akilah.

"Can you show me how you did that thing with your staff? It was really cool. It was like you imbued it with power," Luke said.

Akilah tensed, as did everyone in the sparring area. There was a long moment of silence and for a moment Leia though Akilah would just laugh and brush Luke off, but instead slapped him across the face. Leia's jaw dropped in not only shock but anger as Akilah looked at Luke in fury.

"How dare you? As if I would lower myself and waste my time trying to teach you," she snapped.

Leia stormed over to where Akilah was but Luke handled Akilah well before she got there by pushing his hand out and force throwing her across the field.

"You should watch who you pick a fight with because I tend to fight back," Luke snapped.

Leia stood next to Luke with her arms crossed glaring at Akilah. It was then Leia noticed that it was quiet again and when Akilah stood up, she looked shocked.

"You can use the force?" she asked.

"Obviously," Luke said rolling his eyes. If it was one thing Luke couldn't stand it was when people underestimated him or didn't take him seriously, and because of his calm personality and less obvious temper, many people did.

"How dare you?" Akilah finally snapped.

"I'll tell you how. You slapped me. What the hell did you expect?" Luke shot back.

Leia sighed. And people usually thought she was the dangerous one and outwardly, she probably was. But Luke had a silent anger about himself. Pushing him to the point where he was ready to snap was like playing around with a detonator. There were only a few things that made Luke go off. Leia was obviously one of them. Being pushed around like he was dirt came in a close second.

"There is a penalty for men who rise against women in this village," Akilah said.

"You can't really expect him to live up to that? He's not even part of your society. Or course he hit you back," Leia snapped.

At that moment, Mother Nadiyya came over to them flanked by two warriors.

"What is the problem?"

Akilah spoke before Luke could. "This boy dared to ask me how to use one of secret techniques and then used his powers to throw me across the field when I refused. He is powerful for his kind."

"You liar," Luke said, "I might have asked her. But I didn't know it was secret and I didn't know that you thought so low of men you'd slap me for asking. And what do you mean powerful for my kind? I probably have more force talent and ability than half of your village combined."

Leia sighed. That was a trait both she and Luke shared, but Luke usually wasn't so open about it. They were both a little overconfident almost to the point of arrogant, but Luke wasn't wrong. Luke probably was that strong.

Nadiyya laughed and then turned to Leia. "Child you best keep a handle on brother. Do you need help learning how to keep him in control?"

"No I don't. For the last kriffing time, he's not my slave," Leia snapped.

Nadiyya shrugged. "So be it, but since your brother shamed my warrior she must be given the chance to regain her pride."

"Why?" Leia asked putting her hands on her hips. "Because she just got thrown on her ass by a boy?"

Luke who was finally calming down nudged Leia gently through their link. He had made his point and he was done. The girl had to learn that the best impressions were sometimes left on people when you said what you had to say, did what you had to do, and left them stunned that you walked away. Leia however stayed and gave people the chance to get back on her, a dangerous habit in his opinion.

"It's our way. The way it has been for centuries. I would be dishonoring my own tribe if I did not let her," Nadiyya replied.

"But Luke isn't one of the guys from your tribe. I came to you all for help to heal him. If I had known it was going to be like this, I would have tried my luck begging for help from Darth Vader!"

"Who is he?"

Luke rolled his eyes in exasperation. This was a really secluded society. But it really was a beautiful planet. He wondered why it had never been further colonized into something like Naboo or Alderaan?

"Listen, we don't want to cause trouble. We'll just leave right now," Luke said starting to pull Leia away but the guards around Nadiyya stopped them. We won't let you leave until Akilah has had her privilege.

"You're kidding right?" Luke and Leia asked in disbelief.

"No."

Disbelief in both of them turned into outrage and stubborn pride. Luke stepped up.

"Fine. If it makes her feel better, I'll fight her!" he said.

Some of Leia's rage turned into concern as she stepped up next to Luke.

_You can't fight. You're missing a hand!_

_I don't plan to let that stop me._

Leia could tell he was dead serious and if it weren't for the fact that all the women were force sensitive, which took away their advantage, she'd grab her blaster and they'd blast their way out of this place. But alas, she couldn't and so she did the next best thing.

"He won't fight you," Leia declared tilting her head up in the way reminded Luke of royalty. "But I will on his behalf."

"What?" Luke said whipping his head around to look at her.

"You would fight on behalf of someone beneath you?" Akilah asked seeming amused.

"He is not beneath me. He's worth it. He means a lot to me," Leia added softly.

_Leia, you can't! _Luke sent firmly but Leia only smiled and sent him waves of assurance.

_Luke, you've always jumped to my side to defend and protect me whether I wanted you to or not. Let me protect you, just this once._

_But…_

_Luke. Please?_

Luke sighed and stepped back to let Leia fight. Then he pulled the light saber from his belt.

"Use this," he said holding it out to her. Leia shook her head.

"I can't. That was your father's weapon. It belongs in your hands. I shouldn't use it," she said.

Luke smiled. "But you already did," he pointed out referring to when she fought off Tytus on Alderaan.

"But that was different. I had to. I-."

"Leia," Luke said still holding it out. "As far as I'm concerned, you are my sister in everything but blood which makes Anakin Skywalker your dad too, and I think that maybe, if he were here, he would have thought the same. Take it."

Leia smiled brightly, snatched the saber and leaned in to kiss Luke on the cheek.

"You're such a sweetheart," she said and Luke blushed. He went to stand near Artoo and Threepio on the sidelines while Nadiyya went to sit on the other side.

Leia turned to face Akilah, who was already ready with her staff, and took a deep breath as she lit the light saber. It hummed with power and vibrated a little in her hand, a sign of her inexperience with such a carefully crafted weapon. She touched her japor snippet and then said to herself, "Force please be with me and you too mother, wherever you are."

Leia then felt the presence of the spirit that helped guide her and Luke, but she didn't see the brightly glowing light. From the sidelines Luke gasped as Leia glowed faintly when he felt the same presence.

"Begin," Nadiyya said.

Akilah charged at Leia first with her staff in her hands as she came to strike Leia. Leia raised the blade and with difficulty held back the staff, which to her shock was not cut in half by the sword.

Akilah twisted the staff while it was still touching the blade and pushed Leia backwards using the force to aid her. Leia fell backwards a few feet away. When she sat up, she glared at the older woman and summoned the light saber back to her hands.

_Don't think about it Leia. Just let go and trust the force. I'm going to help you._

Leia jumped at the voice and then moved out the way as Akilah came at her with her staff again.

_What the hell?_ Leia thought.

_Just trust me. I've never steered you wrong before._

Leia frowned and then blinked as it dawned on her. So this woman's voice belonged to the spirit.

_You'll help me? Wait a minute. Who are you?_ Leia asked as she struggled to hold back Akilah's staff as she lay on the ground.

Leia heard a mental sigh as the voice said, _My name's Ahsoka and I was a friend of your mother and father. Now no more questions. You'll find your answers later. But you have to hurry and let go. I can't keep this up for long._

All Leia heard was that the spirit knew her mother and father and that was all she needed to know. _Ok._

Luke, who was worried about Leia and prepared to step in if her needed to, watched in amazement as Leia suddenly threw Akilah off of her and pushed herself off the ground onto her feet. She twirled the blade in her hand with the skill of someone who knew a lot more about the force than Luke was certain she knew and suddenly the fight became a lot more interesting as Leia met the Akilah's staff stroke for stroke. Then she used her free hand to put her hand out force push Akilah, but the warrior met with resistance and it became a battle of wills to see who would be pushed.

In the end both of them flew through the air, but Leia flipped in midair and landed on her feet. Akilah managed to land on one hand and flip herself over onto her feet.

"Master Luke," Threepio said in surprise. "Where did Miss Leia learn such feats? Why I had no idea she was such a skilled and talented fighter."

Artoo beeped a dry response that sounded to Luke like, "Neither did I."

But Luke wasn't so sure it was Leia at all. She was getting some help and whatever help it was wanted this to be over with quickly. Luke guessed it was a temporary thing and he guessed right because Leia's movements were slowly but surely becoming slower and more tired.

_What's happening? _Leia asked.

_I told you I couldn't stay very long. If you hadn't insisted on being so mistrustful of me I could have stayed longer,_ the spirit replied dryly.

Leia felt the presence leave her and distracted by this didn't see the swing of Akilah's staff. The woman made a quick strong blow to Leia's right side and the girl slid across the field. Leia coughed up and spit out the sand that had gotten into her mouth before balling up her fist in anger.

"Hmp. If you were going to lower yourself to defend a man, the least you could have done was won. You have shown yourself to be as worthless and weak as he. I've never seen a woman so pathetic," Akilah said standing over her.

Leia growled in anger and hate for the woman who dared to put her down like she was an animal. It was the same way people had treated her when she was a slave, as worthless, good for nothing. This wasn't just about defending Luke anymore. Her own pride and dignity was in the picture now, and she'd be damned if she let a snobby stuck up arrogant woman like Akilah lay waste to it.

Then she felt something. There was a power in the force, growing stronger the more she focused on her rage at the woman and it was begging Leia to use it. Leia grabbed hold of it.

Akilah kicked Leia in her side with a scoff and started to turn away when Leia got shakily back to her feet. But Leia didn't care. She snatched the woman's staff away with the force; however Akilah was not deterred as she jumped through the air and made to fight Leia with her own strength. Leia put her hand in the air to stop Akilah mid jump and tossed her to the ground as hard as the power flowing through her would let her. Then, when the woman started to get back up, Leia raised her hand.

Luke was staring stunned as he felt something dark overshadow Leia. He recognized it. It was the same power he used when he choked people, the same one he felt when he really wanted to get his warning across to someone. But he had never seen Leia use it, not at all. Electricity began to cackle around Leia's outstretched hand, and then lightning shot out of it at Akilah. It was only for a few seconds. Luke was sure of that, but Akilah looked like she had just suffered the worst torture at the hands of an enemy.

Leia stopped and put her hand back down to her side before walking up to Akilah and kicking her much in the same way Akilah had done to her.

"Next time you want to smack someone for no reason weaker or stronger, think about me. Who's pathetic now?" Leia snapped and let go of the power she had briefly clung on to.

Luke ran to Leia and grabbed her in a hug.

"You did it," he yelled, but Leia was in a daze. What had come over her? It was so powerful, so mesmerizing… addicting.

"Have them both captured," Nadiyya suddenly said.

"What?" Luke and Leia said turning to the mother.

"You have broken my people's greatest law and number one rule. Never concede or turn to evil. You used the dark side." she said. "We find it a great disrespect to our culture and while normally one of our own would be exiled, outsiders must be punished."

Luke and Leia stared in dumbfounded shock for a moment before exchanging a look and turning back to glare at Nadiyya.

"You're a bunch of hypocrites. Your whole karked up tribe," Luke snapped.

Leia continued. "How dare you accuse us of conceding to evil when you commit the greatest crime there is? You've enslaved innocent people just because of their sex and not only enslaved them, but have warped and twisted them so that they think it's their place, that your obscene behavior is normal. If using this 'dark side' as you say makes us evil then you, your tribe, and your entire society and culture are an abomination to the entire galaxy and you deserve the wrath of every god and deity there is for your crime."

Luke could have never said it better himself. Leia always was the more articulate one out of the two of them. She'd make a good senator.

"We'll be leaving now," Leia snapped. "And I promise if you dare try to follow us I won't hesitate to lay waste to this place with this so-called dark side."

With that Leia pulled Luke away from the field and toward the forest where their ship was.

"Let's go Threepio and Artoo," Luke said to the droids who were already hurrying to follow.

As they stepped over the branches and leaves and thick brush to get to their ship, Leia was cursing all the way. Luke, though not as angry as Leia, understood it. It had brought back the memory of being stepped all over and treated like she was nothing.

He went next to her and threw his arm over her shoulder.

"It's over now Leia. Let them be destroyed by their own ignorance. You shouldn't worry about it," Luke suggested.

"I can't help it. I hate people who think that way," said Leia clenching her fist and uncurling them.

"Well we're not there now, so why waste your energy dwelling on how much you hate them?"

Artoo began to say something in urgency and Luke, who could understand binary much better than Leia, pulled her behind a large tree and the two droids followed.

"What did he say?" Leia asked.

Luke shook his head.

_Shield our presence._

_How? _Leia asked.

_I don't know but you do it all the time to yourself when you're mad at me. Just do it,_ Luke sent.

Leia said and closed her eyes as she saw her and Luke's presence in the force, their force power. She willed the light to dim a little before she couldn't sense Luke's presence at all.

_Thanks._

_What's going on? _Leia asked.

_Wait!_

Luke looked around the tree and watched as someone, Tytus walked through the forest. He felt a burst of anger as he thought about the hand he had taken from him. How he'd like to grab the man by the neck and choke him. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't see Leia peak around the corner next to him until he heard her stifled gasp. When Tytus was gone, she grabbed Luke's hand and started to run back to their ship. Luke was running with her as Artoo and Threepio yelled for them to slow down.

When they got to the_ Queen Amidala, _Luke checked the ship.

"You think he found it and sabotaged it?" Leia asked

"No. It's fine. He didn't find it. But we have to get out of here," Luke then stopped and swore. "Stang there are trackers on the ship. Two of them. One of them must be Tytus'."

"How much you want to bet the other belongs to Darth Vader?" Leia muttered and then added, "How do you know him anyway?"

Luke started up the ramp and replied in a sheepish way, "We kind of helped each other a while back. Remember when I told you an Imperial helped me back on that planet where they were going to wipe out the population?"

Leia remembered alright. It was the night Luke had his first drink. He hadn't made a habit out of drinking but Luke did take some when something was weighing really heavy on his mind and that was rare.

"What about it?" Leia asked and then in dawned on her. "Darth Vader helped you."

"Yeah," the boy said a little too casual for Leia's liking. "And before you even say it I gave him the third degree on why he was helping me. You'd have to meet him. The guy has a heart somewhere… Kind of. He almost let me go like it was some kind of game for him."

Leia began to fuss and Luke in disapproval, and then stopped as both she and Luke felt the disturbance in the force.

"The village," Luke said. "He was heading back that way. We have to help them."

Luke started to run down the ramp and then noticed Leia was standing stubbornly with her arms crossed.

"Give me one good reason why we should help them?" Leia snapped. "They treated you like dirt and then had the nerve to accuse me of using some dark side of the force like holding people as slaves wasn't evil."

Luke sighed. "But Leia they don't deserve to die. Not like that. They may have the force but that guy has more skill than any of them. I know it and her might have had a detonator or something."

"Luke," Leia said firmly.

"Leia, those people may be wrong in their views but that doesn't give us the right to condemn them to death, not like that," Luke said softly.

Leia clenched and unclenched her hand before groaning and shouting. "It's not about that. It's about you Luke!"

"What did I do?" Luke said getting angry.

"You're going off to do this hero thing. We've done a lot of stuff Luke, but we've never taken on a jedi. He wants to kill you and he can probably do it," Leia screamed storming back into the ship.

Luke stomped behind her. "Leia Skywalker, get back here."

Leia stormed into her room and closed the door. Luke tried to open it, but Leia had locked it. Luke groaned and moved his hand over it. The door opened and Leia was sitting with her back turned, obviously trying to hide her tears from Luke. But Luke could feel her pain and sadness.

"Leia," Luke said softly, all anger gone from him as he went to sit next to her and put his left arm over her shoulder.

Leia leaned into him. "I don't want him to kill you Luke. We've always had the advantage before, but if we go now…"

"I'm not going to die Leia. We've been okay this long and besides, if people only got into stuff when they had the advantage, then imagine what kind of galaxy we'd live in," Luke muttered and then kissed Leia on her forehead. "I have to do this. I bet my dad would have. But I'm not going to make you come with me."

Leia looked at him alarmed. "What?"

"I'm going to go face Tytus. You need to get away. Darth Vader will be here soon and I don't want him to get you. Go somewhere safe. Maybe you can find Han again."

Luke felt Leia's presence flare as she got ready to argue.

"Leia please. Just this once," Luke asked. "Don't argue with me."

Leia sighed. "Okay."

Luke smiled. "Good luck Leia. May the force be with you."

"And with you," Leia said as Luke walked away from her. She heard him go down the ramp and then felt him presence fade as he headed for the village.

When he was far enough away she stood up and grabbed one of her best most powerful blasters and hooked it onto her belt.

"Miss Leia!" Threepio said. "Master Luke specifically said-."

"Luke said not to argue with him," Leia said in determination. "And I didn't, but I'm going to help him. He's never abandoned me, even when he had the chance and I'm not going to abandon him. If he dies, I'm going with him."

"But Miss Leia," Threepio said following her down the ramp.

"You two stay here," Leia said. "If we're not back… No. We'll be back."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When Luke got back to the village it was on fire, by what looked like thermal detonators. He ignored some of the dead bodies of the warriors as he ran to Mother Nadiyya's hut. He had a feeling he would find Tytus there and he did.

Akilah was trying in vain to defend Nadiyya from Tytus as he screamed at her.

"Where is the boy? I know you're hiding him!"

"Quite frankly I have no clue what you are talking about, but even if I did I wouldn't tell you after you have ransacked our village," Akilah declared.

"Liars! All of you. I know he was here and if I can't have him I'll kill you all," Tytus yelled as he got the best of Akilah and made to cut off her head.

"Stop," Luke yelled

The two woman and Tytus stopped to look at Luke.

"I'm the one you want. Leave them alone," Luke snapped.

Nadiyya and Akilah looked at him in shock as Tytus grinned.

"I knew it. Too much honor to run away from a fight," he said with his light saber.

"No you're the coward!" Luke yelled. "You're hurting innocent… well maybe not so innocent people. But the point is they didn't do anything to you and neither did I. If my father did something to you, that's between you and him and he's dead."

Tytus laughed. "Dead! Dead! Your father's not dead you sithspawn! He's very much alive and I'm going to kill you for what he did when he betrayed the jedi!"

Luke blinked. "My father's alive?"

But Tytus didn't answer as he came up to him with his light saber. Luke used his left hand to light his own and block the oncoming attack. Tytus laughed.

"You want to lose the other hand too! Fine!"

Luke wasn't that crazy. He stepped back to avoid a repeat of what happened on Alderaan and then used the force to push Tytus. The problem was that Tytus was much more trained in the force although Luke knew he was more powerful, and so the dark jedi gained an upper hand over Luke, sending Luke flying face first into a wall on the hut. Luke winced as he raised a hand to his chest. That was at least two broken ribs.

"And now you die Luke Skywalker," Tytus said getting ready to spring himself towards Luke until the sound of blaster bolts sounded in the air.

Instead, the man jumped to get out the way and Luke looked around to see Leia in the doorway.

"Hey jedi," Leia shouted. "If you're going to kill Luke then you have to get through me first."

Luke shook his head.

_No Leia. Run away, _he sent to her weakly but Leia ignored his voice in her head. In fact, she blocked him out.

"You shouldn't play with guns little girl," Tytus yelled and summoned the blaster out her hands, but that didn't deter Leia. She grabbed hold of it with the force as it flew through the air and slammed it into Tytus' head.

Blood ran down the man's temple as he cut the blaster in half and flipped into the air to land in front of Leia. She lifted her arm up to punch him, but he grabbed her arm and twisted it so that she was forced to turn around if she wanted to relieve the pain. Tytus groaned and made to kill her with his light saber.

"Leave her alone!" Luke said managing to ignore the pain in his chest and ram into Tytus. The man fell to the ground, his light saber flying through the air. Then remembering his original target, he threw Luke off of him, and instead of trying to call his light saber to himself, he resorted to fighting the boy with his bare hands.

"Luke!" Leia screamed. "No!"

She started to go help him, but then stopped. A dark presence had entered the hut and Leia turned around to face the second man they had been avoiding.

Vader would have been out of breath if it weren't for the respirator that regulated his breathing. He didn't know what it was, but he knew he had to get to those children. They were in danger, and he wasn't quite sure why he was so concerned. No, Vader thought to himself. He wasn't at all concerned per say, but the children were his prey and he would not let anyone, especially a jedi, get to them first and kill them before he got them. Besides, he couldn't interrogate them if they were dead. He'd take out the jedi, and then he'd deal with the children afterwards.

He locked eyes with the girl who was staring at him with unconcealed fear. Vader imagined she was so worried about her brother that she wasn't even trying to. In fact, she looked like she was trying to choose between two evils. As he looked into her eyes, her brown eyes that brought back memories of his dead wife, he felt the overwhelming need to take away all her fears just like he frequently did for Padmé.

"Stay there," he told her and walked past her to where Luke was fighting Tytus and loosing badly.

Leia watched as Vader went to intervene and stop Tytus. At that moment, she didn't care that Darth Vader had been chasing them for a little over three years, or that he was second in command of the empire that she and Luke had wrecked havoc on for the last three years. All she cared about was the fact that Vader wanted them alive and at that moment he was Luke's saving grace, their knight in shining black armor.

Luke was barely conscious when Tytus stood up having gotten him to stop resisting and fighting. Luke didn't have a fight in him anymore. His chest hurt, he had a headache and the room was spinning.

Tytus summoned his light saber to his hand and raised it over Luke who was resigned to his fate.

"And now, as your father betrayed us and turned his blade against the jedi, I will do the same on his son and the jedi will have their vengeance."

Tytus struck down, but Vader's red blade interfered.

"For whatever violation the child's father committed against the jedi, you will not have your vengeance today," Vader declared.

"Well how ironic…" Tytus yelled and lashed out at Darth Vader. "The person who destroyed the jedi in the first place. Do you know that boy is the son of a powerful jedi?"

"I didn't need you to tell me that," Vader said honestly. There was no way children with force potential like that weren't children of a jedi.

"Then I would be doing you a favor by killing him," Tytus yelled.

"I don't need any favors from you," Vader said easily keeping up with the man who was fighting in an angry uncontrollable crazed state. "Your quest for vengeance has made you insane jedi. Your powers cannot match up to the power of a true dark sider, a sith."

Leia crawled over to where Luke was ignoring her throbbing arm.

"Luke," she muttered brushing her fingers through his hair. She would have held him but she didn't want to unknowingly make the matter worse. "Stay with me."

Luke smiled despite his swollen and scratched up face. "I'm trying. As long as you don't go anywhere…"

"I'm not," she replied as she looked up at where Darth Vader and Tytus were fighting or weren't fighting. Darth Vader had disarmed Tytus and had his saber to the man's neck.

"This is the end for you jedi."

Tytus laughed. "If you kill me, you'll never know their secret. You'll never know who's father that boy really is."

"That is of no consequence to me," Vader said and killed the man without a second thought.

Vader turned to face the girl who was watching him with relief that the dark jedi was dead. Vader noted that she didn't at all seem intimidated that he was Darth Vader. In fact, she was looking at him curiously for a moment before her brother coughed and blood came out his mouth.

"Luke!" she said in panic.

Vader bent down to touch the boy and felt his presence in the force diminishing. It probably would have already done so if the girl's presence hadn't latched on to his and was keeping him alive with her life force.

"He doesn't have long," he admitted.

Leia looked up and glared at Vader. "No. He's not going to die. He's not!"

Then the tears that she had held back to fight fell down her face. "I won't let him."

"No matter how much you hold on to him, it is likely that he will die soon. Your life force has latched on to his to sustain it. If you don't let go of it before he dies you will die too," Vader said standing up.

Leia stood up to glare at him and if the situation weren't so dire, Vader would have been amused by the girl's attempts to intimidate him and she was at least a few inches more than a foot shorter than him.

"You cold heartless monster," she screeched and began to pound on his chest with her fist. "I don't give a kriffing hell who you are. I'm not going to let him die. Never!"

Vader simply stared at the girl in surprise at her boldness. Then again, desperation could make people do startling things. He should know…

"Be rational child," he said using the force to stay her hands. The pounding was getting annoying. "There's not much that can be done for your brother."

"Yes there is," Leia tried to shout but her voice was raw and it came out as a desperate whisper. "Yes there…"

Leia then remembered what Luke told her.

_The guy has a heart somewhere…_

She broke out his force hold ignoring his surprise at her ability to do so and set her stubborn pride and ego aside.

"Luke… He told me you helped him when I got sick with that virus. You told him where the cure for it was. Please. I know me and my brother have been nothing but trouble to you for the last three years, but I can't lose him. I know you can help. You can take us to the best doctors in the galaxy," Leia pleaded desperately.

"Child…" Vader began.

"What do you want me to do?" Leia asked as she got down on her knees. "I'll beg you if I have to. I'll be your prisoner for the rest of my life. It doesn't matter. I'll do anything you ask. Just help me save his life. I can't live without him. I won't let him die."

Vader was taken back to a little over sixteen years ago when he remembered himself saying the same thing to Palpatine.

_I'll do whatever you ask… Just help me save Padmé's life. I can't live without her. I won't let her die._

He then felt something he hadn't felt in a long time… sympathy. He knew what it was like to be taken advantage of like that, to be willing to sell your soul to save the person you loved and he knew what it was like to have that chance stolen right out of your grasp. He would not cause that pain for another.

"Are you willing to risk your own life for his until we can reach a facility that can tend to his needs?"

Leia nodded.

"Then we must hurry. We don't have a lot of time. We'll take my ship," Vader said.

"No. We'll take our ship," Leia argued. "I think Luke will be more comfortable there."

"Excuse me."

Both Leia and Vader turned around to see Naddiya and Akilah. Leia had honestly forgotten the two women were there.

"What do you want?" Leia snapped.

"We owe your brother our lives and in our culture that makes him an equal to us. Take the rancor. They can transport your brother safer than you can by caring him," Nadiyya said. "Akilah will escort you."

Vader wanted to mention that they hardly needed an escort, but let the woman strap Luke to a makeshift medical capsule and tie him to the rancor. They sped through the forest, careful not to disturb Luke. When they were at the ship, Vader was vaguely aware that this was the same ship the two had stolen from Naboo but had painted black. Leia jumped off the rancor and ran up the ramp while Vader carefully lifted Luke down with the force and carried him onto the ship.

"Over here," Leia shouted from where she was in the small medical bay. "Artoo. Start the ship! Luke's hurt. We have to leave now."

Threepio walked in the room at that moment and gasped in shock.

"Oh no! Miss Leia. Darth Vader's on the ship."

"I know. Now shut up," Leia snapped as she watched Vader put his hand on Luke's forehead. "What are you doing?"

"I'm putting him in a trance. It will help him save his energy until we can get to a better medical facility," Vader said to her.

Leia nodded and when she felt that Luke was okay for the moment she started for the cockpit and Vader followed.

Leia started to sit in the pilot's seat, but then realized she had no clue where they were going and stepped aside to let Vader take the controls. She clutched her japor snippet and closed her eyes saying a silent prayer.

"Just hold on Luke," she muttered not caring if Vader heard her or not. "You're going to be alright."

xxxxxxxxxxx

_In the next part, Leia anxiously waits for news on Luke's condition with Darth Vader, but Darth Vader is proving to be much more than Leia can handle as he seems to be the only adult that has ever been able to get a handle on her attitude and smart mouth. She finds out why when he sees her necklace and reveals that he gave to his wife, who wore it up until the day she died when she was pregnant and it makes both Vader and Leia come to a startling conclusion about it..._

Okay that's the end of this arc. Arc two will be up regular update time. I hope you enjoyed this. Review Please!


End file.
